SCP: Saving Alabasta
by kingdom cure
Summary: Sequel to Second Chance as a Pirate. Xion and the Straw Hats made it to the Grand Line. But now, even though they just arrived in the world's dangerous ocean, they have to face up against one of the Shichibukai and save a kingdom. Will the Straw Hat Pirates stop Crocodile's plan? Or will Alabasta be destroyed?
1. Meetings

_This is it. The moment everyone in this crew was waiting for. The Grand Line. The world's most dangerous sea. On the last island of this sea is where the ultimate treasure is, One Piece. It's said that those who recieves that treasure has the right to be called the Pirate King. Of course, our protagonist is not interested in this treasure. That's the captain's dream, like her simple-minded captain, Monkey D. Luffy. It's a wonder how he's a captain. Then again, he's not the only weird one, nor is he the only dreamer. This entire crew our main character is in is full of unusual people and dreamers. And she's one of them._

_Right now, they're making their way down the Reverse Mountain. Experiencing it, she can tell how it got its name. Instead of going down, the water is going up the mountain, due to the strong currents. Though what goes up, must comes down. That said, the pirate ship, Going Merry, went down the mountain and straight to the world's most dangerous sea. Only time will tell how long it will take to sail across the world and achieve their dream. New sea, new adventures, new friends, and new enemies begins now._

* * *

**_*XION'S P.O.V*_**

'_We're coming now, Grand Line,_' I thought as the Going Merry went in the clouds. I was so excited to be in this ocean, since my memories might return to me if I experience something that's similiar to another in my past while I'm here. I wondered what kind of enemies we'll be up against, what type of friends we'll make and what kind of Dream Eaters were left here. I was so excited. That excitement didn't last long when I heard a weird noise.

"Did you hear something just now?" Zoro asked.

"Eh? What?" Nami asked.

"I just heard a strange noise!"

"It might be the wind. There's a lot of strange rock formations here that could've caused it."

When Nami put it that way, it might be possible. Then again, that noise sounded too deep to be a wind. My thought was proven when the said sound was heard again.

"I don't think it's the wind," I told Nami. "That noise sounded too deep."

"Nami-san! I see a mountain up ahead!" Sanji informed.

"A mountain? That can't be!" Nami protested.

"But I see it right there!"

"Who cares?!" Luffy asked in excitement. "LET'S GO!"

"After the Twin Capes, there should be nothing but the ocean!" Nami told us.

After Nami said that, I saw a big shadow up ahead of us. When the ship got out of the clouds, a huge whale- Wait. A HUGE WHALE IS IN FRONT OF THE SHIP!? Why the hell is there a whale here?! And a really big one at that!

"It's not a mountain!" Sanji corrected himself, as we all paniced.

"It's a black wall!" Luffy assumed.

"You're wrong!" Nami corrected. "It's a-"

"Then what is it?!" Sanji asked.

"IT'S A WHALE!" Usopp and I identified. As soon as we did, the whale wailed.

"No wait! That's an island whale! Those are the only kind of whales that can be that big _and_ they only exist in the West Blue! What is this whale doing here?!" I added.

"Does that even matter right now?!" Nami asked me.

"W-w-w-w-what do we do?!" Usopp asked.

"Fight it?" our certain simple-minded male suggested.

"IDIOT! We can't fight something like that!" Nami and I scolded in unison.

"T-t-t-the current's taking us right at it!" Usopp informed what we didn't want to be informed. "What do we doooo?"

"Wait a minute!" Sanji spoke up. "We've gotten this close, but it still looks like a wall. Where are its eyes?" Is that really important right now?!

"I see. It may not have noticed us yet!" Nami said.

"At this rate, we'll hit it dead on," Zoro said. He then seem to have spotted something. "Oi! Look at the left! There's an opening over there!"

As soon as he said that, the guys, except Luffy, who went somewhere, went to the helm, which hasn't been fixed yet, and tried to turn left. I gave them support using my 'aeroga' spell. Unfortunately, no matter how hard we try, we're still going straight towards the whale!

When we heard a **BOOM!** sound, the ship slowed down and we all noticed that a cannon was fired... by Luffy.

"THE CANNON?!" we all screamed in unison.

As the ship hit the whale, the figure head, also known as Luffy's special seat, broke off and was about to crash into Nami. Seeing that she was in the most dangerous position, I pushed her out of the way. I found that there was no need to do so, for the seat landed several feet away from the spot that Nami was on.

"AAAHHH! MY SPECIAL SEAT!" I heard Luffy screamed.

"You saved me, Xion. Thanks a lot," Nami thanked.

"Anything for a friend," I said, relieved that we didn't end up crashing into the island whale, who didn't seem to feel that cannonball.

A few seconds later, Zoro, Usopp and Sanji ran out of the helm and grabbed big oars. Big enough to row the ship, that it.

"RUN FOR IT! WHILE WE HAVE THE CHANCE!" Zoro ordered, as we, except Nami and Luffy, grab an oar and rowed like crazy.

"What's wrong with that whale?!" Usopp asked.

"Didn't it notice that it was hit by a cannon?! Is it stupid?!" Sanji asked.

"It might be due to the size!" I guessed.

"Who cares?! Just row!" Zoro ordered.

The island whale then wailed again. Being so close to it, I feel like I'm going to be deaf soon if I keep listening to it this close.

"Ahh! My ears!" Sanji complained.

"Just keep rowing!" I shouted. "We have to get away from it!"

When we were going to pass the whale's right eye, without it noticing us of course, a certain idiot _had_ to punch it, in the eye! "WHAT DID YOU BREAK MY FAVORITE SEAT FOR?!" was the question he asked when he punched it.

"YOU IDIOOOOOT!" we all screamed, crying. A second or two later, as Luffy's arm was pulled back to him, the island whale's eye spotted us! URGH! Why Luffy?! Why did you have to punch it in the eye?!

"It sees us!" everyone, except our little idiot, paniced.

"How do you like that?!" he asked the whale. "I'll kick your ass!"

"JUST SHUT UP, DUMBASS!" Zoro, Usopp and I yelled, kicking him in the head.

"Just what are you thinking?! Are you trying to get us killed?! You just made it really angry!" I yelled, strangling the life out of this so-called captain of mine!

A second later, as I continue to strangle Luffy, the whale opened its mouth and sucked us in! Ship and all! Luffy somehow fell out of the ship and nearly fell in the sea. If it wasn't for his devil fruit power, he would've drowned. As for the rest of us, well what'd you expect in this situation? WE GOT EATEN! Just arrived in the Grand Line and the first thing we did, thanks to a certain someone, was get eaten! Is this really how our adventure is going to end?!

* * *

When we got to the stomach, or at least, I think it's the stomach, it looks more like we're outside. There's a sky and a small island. Either this is heaven, or we really didn't get eaten.

"What do you think?" Nami asked.

"'What do I think?', you say," Zoro repeated.

"It doesn't matter what you think, we clearly just got swallowed by a whale," Sanji said.

"You say that, but can you explain to us what we're seeing?" I asked our chef.

"Maybe it's a dream?" Usopp guessed.

"Yeah. Probably just a dream," Zoro agreed. Well, if he put it that way, I guess we are dreaming.

"So then that house on that island is..." Nami spoke.

"An illusion," the swordsman finished for her.

As he did that, something came out of the water. That something is a squid Sea King and an anglerfish Heartless.

"And those?" Nami asked. Wait, A SEA KING AND A HEARTLESS?!

"A GIANT SQUID AND ANGLERFISH!" our navigator and sniper shrieked, faced blue and practically crying, not to mention clinging onto me.

Before Sanji and Zoro could do anything to those fish, three harpoons pierced through them, therefore killing the squid and destroying the Heartless.

"Looks like someone's home," Zoro said.

"Better hope it's a person," Sanji added.

"No more. I wanna go home," Nami told us, crying.

"If Luffy was here, he'd know what to do," Usopp said.

"Speaking of Luffy, is he alright?" I asked them. When I asked that question, something was walking out of the house.

"Sh-shoot it! Shoot down that island!" Usopp ordered.

"No. Wait," Sanji calmly protested. "Someone's coming out."

The figure walked out of the shadows, revealing to be an old man with... flower petals on his head?

"It's a flower," the chef quickly identified. Getting a better look at the 'flower', he corrected himself. "My mistake. It's a human."

"What's up with this old man?" Usopp asked.

"That old man just killed a giant squid and that weird anglerfish," Nami said.

"Was he fishing or was he saving us?" I wondered.

When I asked that question, the old man was casually walking to somewhere, giving us a weird look. I was feeling uncomfortable with the look he's giving us. It wasn''t long until he stopped that look, as he just sat in a lounge chair with a newspaper in hand.

"SAY SOMETHING, ASSHOLE!" Sanji demanded. The second he demanded that, the old man just stared back at us.

"If it's a fight you want then come over here! We've got a cannon right here!" Usopp said from the galley. When did he get back there? When he said that, the old man's eyes widen and the atmosphere around us got very tense.

"Don't or someone will die," the old man warned us, as I had to deal with Nami and Usopp clinging onto me. Why do they want to cling onto me? I'll never know.

"Oh? And who will that be?" Sanji provoked.

"Me." Well, isn't that unexpected. Usual when someone says that, they meant the other person, not themselves.

"YOU?! Why you-!"

"Sanji, calm down," I spoke, as I got out of Nami and Usopp's grasps.

"Hey, old man. Tell me something. Where are we and who are you?" Zoro questioned. The atmosphere got tense again, as the old man's eyes widen once again.

"If you want to know someone's name, it's polite manner to give them your name first," he told our swordsman.

"Yeah. That's right. My mistake," Zoro agreed. He was going to introduce himself then, but the old man beat him to it.

"I am Crocus," he introduced. "I am the keeper of the Twin Cape's lighthouse. I am 71-years-old. Gemini. Blood Type AB."

"CAN I KILL HIM NOW?!" Zoro asked, preparing to unsheathe one of his swords.

"You want to know where you are?" Crocus asked. "You come into my one-man resort and then yell such rude things at me. Do you think you're in a rat's stomach?"

"Then we really were swallowed by that whale!" Usopp exclaimed in realization, as he and Nami finally released me.

"But this doesn't look like the inside of a whale," I said.

"Hole on!" Nami shouted. "What's going to happen to us?! I don't wanna be digested!" As soon as she said that, Crocus's eyes widen again and the atmosphere, once again, got tense. A lot of tense atmosphere we're getting here.

"STOP DOING THAT!" we all yelled at him.

"Can't appreciate a good running gag, can you?" he asked.

"THAT WAS A GAG?!"

"A-anyway, can you please tell us how we can get out of here?" I asked, sweat dropping a little.

"Well aren't you a polite one," Crocus stated, smiling a bit. "If you're looking for the exit, it's right over there," he added, pointing at a large metal double door off in a distance. Hang on. WHY IS THERE A DOUBLE DOOR HERE?!

"SO WE _CAN_ LEAVE!?" my crewmates questioned in shock.

"Hang on a second," Nami spoke. "Why is there an exit in a whale's stomach? And why is it floating in mid-air?"

"Wait, look carefully," Usopp spoke up, looking at the sky. "The sky, the clouds, even the seagulls. It's all painting! It's all painting in the whale's stomach!"

"I like having fun," Crocus told us.

"JUST WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Usopp and I asked, Zoro holding us back.

"Are you trying to get this whale sick?! Drinking paintings is not good for the stomach, you know!" I added. Crocus eyes widen again and... Well, you get the picture.

"That would be true, if I did paint the inside of his stomach," he said.

"Oh. Well, never mind, then."

"Now what?" Sanji asked.

"Nami. There's the exit. Let's just get out of here," Zoro suggested to our navigator.

"Alright," she agreed. The moment she agreed, the whole stomach started lurching.

"Now what?!" Usopp asked.

"Look!" I yelled, pointing at the island Crocus is on. "That's no island, that's a ship! See the bottom?!"

"You're right. Then this 'ocean' is made of stomach acid!"

"If we stay any longer, we'll be digested," Sanji said.

"OI! Started what?! Answer me!" Usopp demanded.

'_**...them back...**_' I heard a voice said.

"Did any of you guys say something just now?" I asked, recieving no's from my crewmates. "That's weird."

'_**This... -tain... keeping... away... them!**_' I heard the voice again. I looked around in confusion. I didn't know what the voice meant at all. I was so lost in thought at those words. '_**LET ME THROUGH!**_' Now that was clear.

"I see," Usopp spoke, getting me out of my thoughts. "So then this old man's plan is..."

"Probably," Nami said. "He's planning on killing the whale from the inside."

"That's a horrible way to kill it."

"Now that we solved the mystery, let's get out of here," Zoro suggested. "Our ship's going to be dissolved if you just stand there complaining."

"Well, the whaling business doesn't bother me and I don't feel like saving this one," Sanji said.

Once he said that, I jumped off the ship and swam to the exit. I heard the whole crew calling for me to come back, but I kept swimming. I didn't understand why, but it's been my habit thanks to those six months of protecting people and animals in Tanoshi Island. When I got to the ladder somehow, with the waves being so strong, I saw Crocus diving into the stomach acid as well. Not wasting a single second of whatever I'm going to do, I quickly climb up the ladder. When I got to the top, Crocus got to the ladder as well and was climbing up. Before I could do anything else, I heard a voice. Two vioces actually.

"Okay? Ms. Wednesday?" a male voice asked. "'3-2-1, Baby' and we open the door."

"Roger, Mr. 9," a female voice, who I assume is Ms. Wednesday, agreed. "Whenever you're ready."

When I heard those names, I started to remember one of the organizations that tried to have me join them.

* * *

_***FLASHBACK**GENERAL'S P.O.V***_

Xion was doing some training with some of the kids in many villages in Tanoshi Island. The moment when they finished their training, a woman in western clothes and a purple cowgirl hat came by.

"Are you the demon of this island?" she asked.

"It depends," Xion replied. "I'm Xion. And you are?"

"Just call me Ms. All-Sunday."

"That's an unusual nickname. Why do you call yourself that? And are you a friend or a foe?"

"The main agents of the organization that I work for are to be addressed on the code names they were given like me. The code names are based on numbers, days and holidays. As for your other question, it depends, if you're willing to join-"

"If this organization has any type of connection to the Marines, I won't join you. Sorry."

"The organization I work for has no connection to the World Goverment," Ms. All-Sunday said. "I'll ask again. Are you interested in joining the Baroque Works?"

"It depends on what I get from it," Xion said.

"Our organization is planning on making an ideal nation."

"An ideal nation?"

"Yes. My boss and partner, Mr. 0, will give you further explanation. I can't say much about our objectives in public. So, will you join us?"

"Again, sorry. I'm not interested in your organization. Find someone else to be your puppet. I know a scheme when I see one. Besides, I already decided to leave this island by being a pirate. Of course, I'm not going to be the captain."

"Oh? But there are so many pirate crews out there. And you know how pirates are, don't you?"

"Not all of them are mean. I should know. I saw a crew who were really friendly. I wanted to join, but they didn't offer me a position," Xion told her.

"Oh? Then I suppose that I have to use force on you, don't I?" Ms. All-Sunday asked.

"It depends, if you can defeat me," the black-robed girl challenged.

After several seconds, Xion broke the silence by walking away. "By the way, if you want to ask me why I decided to join a pirate crew, I'd rather keep it a secret. You tell me very little about this Baroque Works, I tell you very little about myself. It's a fair trade. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm behind my scheduel."

* * *

_***END OF FLASHBACK**XION'S P.O.V***_

'_**Let me through!**_' That voice again?! Just what is going on here?!

"AAAAHHHH! I can't stop~!" a familiar male voice came.

"That voice. Don't tell me," I whispered in fear, for the position that I'm in that is.

"What is that voice, Mr. 9?" Ms. Wednesday asked.

"I don't know, Ms. Wednesday," Mr. 9 replied.

The scream got louder and I heard footsteps coming closer. I quickly open the door to see shock faces from two people and Luffy running at high speed towards us.

'_Why did I open the door?_' I asked myself, as the three of us got hit by Luffy and fell into the stomach acid.

"Oh no, Ms. Wednesday! Below us is a huge sea of digestive juices!" Mr. 9 informed.

"Hey, Xion! So you're alright!" Luffy exclaimed.

"We won't be for long, idiot!" I yelled at the said idiot.

"Oh! Everyone is okay!" he continued, ignoring me.

"Listen to me when I'm talking!"

"By the way, you better help me!" With that, we all landed in the stomach acid.

I swam over to Luffy, who was drowning for obvious reasons. I then looked at Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday and saw that they were trying to swim up to the surface. Noticing some kind of heavy weapon in their hands, I swam over to them and grab ahold of those two as well. Once I was sure that they are in my arms, I summoned my Keyblade, Starlight, and used a powerful wind magic to bring us to the surface faster.

"**AEROGA!**" I yelled in the acid, as my weapon shot out a wind and got the four of us out of the acid and, somehow, onto the Going Merry. "Next time, I need to rethink about my bad habit," I breathed. "There are times when it is not needed."

"Xion! What were you thinking?! Jumping into stomach acid like that?!" Nami scolded me, giving me a knuckle sandwich.

"It's not my fault. I have this habit of helping people, including animals," I told her, rubbing my head.

"Well, I think it's a bad habit!"

"How do you think I feel after what just happened?!"

"In any case, who are those two?" Nami changed the subject.

'_**Out of the way!**_' Again with that voice? I already know it's not Voice or a Dream Eater, since they would usually beg to see the light. But this voice sounded desperate. Suddenly, the whale calmed down.

"The whale calmed down," Nami voiced out my thoughts.

"Looks that way," Zoro agreed. "Now then, our crewmate saved your asses. Now who are you?"

"Mr. 9, these guys are pirates," the girl with long blue hair tied into a ponytail whispered to the guy with a crown on his head.

"I can see that, Ms. Wednesday," Mr. 9 told his partner, whom Sanji is staring at with googly eyes. "But I think we can convince them, probably..."

"Are you two scoundrels still here?" came Crocus's voice from the doorway. "Don't make me repeat myself. As long as I'm alive, you won't lay a finger on Laboon."

"Laboon? This whale?" I wondered.

"Oh, he's back," Usopp spoke.

"Who's the old man?" Luffy asked.

"Heheheheheh. You may say that, but we cannot retreat," Ms. Wednesday giggled.

"Killing this whale is our mission," Mr. 9 said. "We won't let you interfere with our whaling anymore. We'll rip a hole in its stomach!"

"Like hell!" I yelled, getting everyone's attention. "You guys seem sleepy. **Sleep.**" When I said that spell, Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday, and even Luffy, fell asleep.

"What did you do?" Zoro asked.

"Exactly what I did. I put them to sleep," I told the swordsman.

"But why?" Nami asked.

"Bad habit. It told me to protect the whale."

"Yeah right."

"But how do you know that it was talking about those two that you have to protect it from?" Sanji asked me.

"They said it themselves, didn't they? They said they were going to kill the whale and they won't let Crocus interfere with their mission," I replied. "That's more than enough proof that he's trying to protect Laboon from them."

"Laboon?"

"Isn't that what he called the whale?"

"You there! Girl!" Crocus called me. "Thanks for protecting Laboon. However, if I may ask, why did you?"

"Just a bad habit of mine," I answered. "Whenever I get this feeling that someone's going to get hurt, my body just instantly reacts. Like earlier when this whale was going on a rampage or just now when these two were going to hurt it from the inside."

"Earlier? What were you planning on doing when Laboon was hitting his head on the Red Line?"

"Put it to sleep, like how I did to these two."

"... You all look alright, why don't you dock near my ship?" Crocus invited. At that point, we all went to his island ship, with Crocus swimming to it.

"Hey! What's the deal with those guys? And what were you doing inside this whale?" Nami questioned, when we all got to his resort.

"Those two scoundrels are from a nearby island," Crocus answered. "All they want is the whale's meat. Laboon could feed their town for two or three years."

"Is Laboon this island whale's name?" I asked.

"That's right. Island whales are the largest species of whales in this world. How can I let him become food? There's a reason why he continues to bash his head against the Red Line. And why he faces Reverse Mountain and bellows."

"A reason?" Nami asked.

"Yeah. This whale, you see, has a heart of a person," Crocus explained. "And he's been earnestly waiting for a certain group of pirates for 50 years."

50 years, huh? That's an awfully long time.


	2. New Promises and Log Poses

We were all listening to Crocus about Laboon. According to him, a group of good pirates came down from Reverse Mountain and into the Grand Line. With them was Laboon, as a baby whale. Usually, island whales doesn't travel with humans. Though being a baby back then, Laboon was traveling with those pirates. Crocus said that they thought they left Laboon in the West Blue, since they were heading to this ocean, but as we all can see, the said whale followed them. Months passed as Laboon's nakama fixed their ship and Crocus was getting friendly with them himself. On the day when they had to leave, the captain entrusted Laboon to Crocus so the whale wouldn't get hurt.

"Laboon has been waiting for those guys for 50 years?" Usopp asked.

"So that's why he's bellowing. And why he's ramming his head on the Reverse Mountain," Nami said.

"That's right," Crocus replied. If that's true, and since this is _the_ Grand Line, those guys are probably dead.

A few minutes later, we got off of Crocus's ship and sailed our way to the exit. Crocus came along to help us get out of Laboon.

"This water pipe's incredible," Zoro complimented.

"It's a wonder how this whale is still alive," I stated.

"Is this more of your 'having fun'?" Sanji asked Crocus.

"This is my 'doctor' fun," he answered, reading a newspaper.

"Doctor?" Usopp repeated.

"I'm his doctor after all. A long time ago, I ran a clinic here on this cape. And years ago, I was a ship's doctor," Crocus explained. And how is he still here, if he was a pirate, unless if the ship he's talking about is a passenger ship.

"Really? Then how about being _my_ ship's doctor?" Luffy asked and offered. And that's not a bad idea. I can't keep using recovery magic. Even I have my limit.

"Don't be stupid. Unlike you six young'ins, I'm don't have the energy to go around doing foolhardy things," Crocus declined and explained.

"A doctor, huh," Sanji muttered. "So that's why you're living inside this whale."

"And this is all a result of your medical treatment," Nami spoke.

"Exactly right. When they get this big, it's impossible to treat them from the outside," Crocus said, walking to some kind of wheel. "Here we go." Crocus then turned the wheel, opening the doors to the outside.

"WE'RE OUT! IT'S THE REAL SKY!" Luffy shouted, as we sailed out of Laboon.

"Still, 50 whole years," Usopp spoke. "Those lousy pirates sure are making him wait-"

"Idiot," Sanji interrupted, smoking. "This is the Grand Line, y'know? They're probably dead. No use waiting for them anymore."

"That's for sure, since it's been 50 years," Nami agreed with the cook.

"That just shows how dangerous this ocean is," I said.

"How can you jerks say that?!" our sniper snapped. "You don't know that! They might still come back! It's such a good story! A whale that continues to believe in his nakama's promise... Ain't that right, ossan?!"

"Yeah," Crocus agreed, pushing his glasses up. "But the truth is crueler than you imagine. It was all part of their plan. Those guys ran away from the Grand Line."

"Say what?!" I demanded. "Are you telling me that they left Laboon behind and broke their promise to him?!"

"They tried to run away from the Grand Line... That means they would have to cross the Calm Belt, right?" Nami asked.

"Even if by some chance they are alive, they would never return to this place," Crocus continued. "The seasons, the weather, the ocean currents, even the winds, they all go around in an unpredictable pattern. Common logic is useless in this ocean. The terror of the Grand Line quickly overwhlems the weak of heart."

"So those shit-heads, without a thought of your life or their promise, packed up and hightailed it out of the ocean?" Sanji asked.

"They just abandoned this whale?!" Usopp and I asked in unison.

"And he's been waiting here for 50 years for them to come back?" Usopp added.

"That's so cruel!" I supported.

"But if you know this, why didn't you tell him?" Nami wondered. "That whale understand humans, right?"

"I did tell him. All of it, but he refused to accept it," Crocus explained. "And the night I told him, Laboon faced Reverse Mountain and bellowed for the first time. He still believes that they will come back from the other side. He just won't listen to the truth."

'_Must be hard for him,_' I thought. '_He waited for them for so long, even though Crocus told him the truth._'

'_**Hurry up, guys,**_' came Laboon's voice. '_**I want to see all of you again. I want you all to prove Crocus wrong. So please, Brook, Yorki, come back.**_'

He sound so sad. I feel sorry for Laboon. Speaking of which, how is it that I can hear his words? Last time I remember, I'm 100% human and I didn't eat any devil fruits that lets me understand animals. So why can I understand him?

"Y'know, it may be hard for him, but they betrayed you, too," Sanji pointed out, puffing out a smoke. "It's not really you're problem anymore, right?"

"You idiot," I muttered. "Look at those scars on Laboon's head. If Crocus leaves him alone, Laboon will most likely keep ramming his head on Reverse Mountain and die out of blood loss. I highly doubt Crocus can leave him alone, especially due to the time they spent together before Crocus learned about the truth of those pirates."

"It's exactly as she says, boy," the old doctor supported my point.

The moment when he did, we suddenly heard someone screaming. We turned to the source, except Crocus, since he's on his 'ship', which is smaller than our's, and saw Luffy running to somewhere, carrying something.

"What's that moron doing now?" Sanji asked.

"You can't even take your eyes off of him for a second!" Zoro muttered.

"He seems to be mountain climbing," I stated. Getting a better look at the thing our captain is holding, it looks like our main mast. Might be my eyes playing tricks with me. There's no way he can easily take the mast off of our ship and easily carry it, can he?

"**Gomu Gomu no Ikebana!**(Flower Arrangment)" Luffy shouted, slamming the mast-like thing down on Laboon's new wound.

"That's a mast, isn't it?" Zoro calmly asked.

"Yup. Right off our ship," Sanji calmly answered.

"It's our main mast," Usopp calmly added. Noticing what he and the other two said, he then freaked out. "QUIT BREAKING OUR SHIP!" Hang on, if that's true, THEN I WAS RIGHT! AND JUST WHERE DID HE GET THE STRENGTH TO RIP THE MAST OFF OF MERRY?!

A moment later, Laboon started to rampage a little out of pain. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!" we all asked our IDIOT, SIMPLE-MINDED, BRAINLESS captain, most of us with sharp teeth. Crocus just looked at the scene with his mouth wide open in shock. The next thing you know, Laboon and Luffy began their fight.

"It's a draw," Luffy quickly announced, ending their little brawl when Laboon was about to crush him. "I'm pretty strong, ain't I? You wanna beat me, don't you? Our battle isn't over yet. So we're continuing this some other time. Your nakama may be dead, but from now on, I'm your rival. We'll fight again and decalre who's stronger. Once we've finished sailing through the Grand Line, I'll be back! Then we'll finish our fight!"

As he said this, tears were forming in Laboon's eyes. It's not from the pain; it's from Luffy's words. The rest of the crew, Crocus and I were smiling at his reason for starting this fight.

'_So he did this to cheer Laboon up,_' I thought. '_Strange way of doing it, though._'

'_**Okay! Straw hat!**_' I heard Laboon said, as he wailed softly to the sky.

* * *

A few hours later, after Luffy's speech and after I healed Laboon's wounds, the straw hat wearing captain was busy painting something on Laboon while Usopp and I were going to fix the Going Merry; Sanji and Nami were both on the upper deck and Zoro was sleeping on the lower deck. Speaking of Nami, I still didn't give her the log pose yet.

'_I'll give it to her once I've finished helping Usopp fix Merry,_' I decided, hoping that it would be before Nami found out about how to navigate this ocean, considering the fact that she'll most likely kill me with her inhuman power.

"Where are those two?" Usopp asked, as we got working on Merry.

"'Those two?'" Nami repeated, before realizing who he meant. "Oh, those two weirdos. They must've ran off. I wonder who those two are though..."

"Whoever they are, I can tell that they are nothing but trouble. Don't know how, just do," I half-lied.

I then saw something on the floor and went to pick it up. It was a log pose. '_Must've belong to Mr. Nine and Ms. Wednesday,_' I thought, knowing that both of mine are in my and Nami's room, in my bag.

'_**You two are so late,**_' I heard a high, male voice said, having me to perk my head up at the sky.

'_**Your misson's time limit has long expired,**_' a deep female voice added.

"Hey, Xion! What's wrong?" Usopp asked, noticing my weirdness.

"It's nothing. I just thought I heard something," I half-lied again, putting the log pose in my pocket.

"Well, it won't help us with fixing Merry, y'know."

"All right. All right. I'm coming."

"But still that stupid bastard, destroying our ship like this..." the sniper muttered. He must really love this ship. "HEY ZORO! GET OVER HERE AND HELP! I AIN'T A SHIPWRIGHT!"

"Even so, you sure know how to do the job," I complimented, hoping that it would calm him down, at least a little.

"Yeah, but still. A shipwright's work can do better than my work. I don't know why Luffy didn't bother to get one before we came here."

"Well, if we're lucky, we might find and recruite one here in the Grand Line."

"I hope we do."

A second later, we heard a loud scream, but not loud enough to wake up our swordsman/first mate. All of us, the ones who are awake that is, went to Nami to see what the problem is.

"The compass is broken!" Nami told us. "It won't point in a single direction." Oh no. Here comes my bad habit.

"I seem to-"

"So you five came here without any idea what you were getting into," Crocus spoke, saving me. Hopefully he'll explain everything before my bad habit takes over. "What brazen stupidity. Did you come here to throw your lives away?"

"Food?" Luffy asked, obviously not paying attention.

"It's FEED for you, moron," Sanji growled at him.

"I told you already," the old doctor continued. "This ocean has no common logic to it. That compass is not broken."

"Then, could it be a magnetic field?" Nami guessed.

"That's correct. The islands of the Grand Line are abundant with minerals, causing abnormal magnetic fields. What's more is that the wind and currents here are completely unstable. If you are a navigator, you must realize how insurmountable that is."

"You're right..." Nami agreed, while Luffy is chowing down on the fish Sanji cooked. "We'll be doomed if we don't have any way to determine our location. I didn't know that! My bad!"

"Oi! This is bad! How are we going to make it?!" Usopp asked, panicing at the news.

"Log Pose," my big mouth and voice came, against my will. Those two words were enough to grab everyone's, except Luffy's, attention to me. Did I ever mention how much I hate my habit of helping people, even if it's information on something? "You need a Log Pose to sail the Grand Line safely," I, or should I say, my bad habit continued. "They are able to memorize an island's magnetic field. Without it, sailing the Grand Line will be impossible. And a Log Pose looks like this," I added, taking out the one that Mr. Nine and Ms. Wednesday dropped.

"What your friend says is completely true," Crocus said.

"Oh? So this is what we need to survive in the Grand Line," Nami said, taking the compass out of my hand, as I got ready for whatever impact will come to me from her. "Say, Xion..."

"Y-yes?" I asked, summoning my Keyblade to protect myself from whatever impact might come at me.

"WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE ONE?! AND IF YOU KNEW, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE?!" she questioned, starting to beat the crap out of me, to fast for me to protect myself.

"For your first question, those two weirdos dropped that," I answered, gagging, as our violent navigator strangled me. "And for the second question, I was planning to buy one in Loguetown and give it and the information about it to you once we arrive here. Please spare me."

"Oh, I see," she simply said, letting me go. "So this is the Log Pose. It doesn't have any markings on it."

"Doesn't need one," I breathed. "You see the red tip on that arrow? We just need to follow that tip to get to the next island."

"How do you know about this?"

"I heard it from one of those friendly pirates back in Tanoshi Island. And you better take care of that. Our lives are indebted to that one object."

"I see."

"You know so much for your age," Crocus complimented. "Even though you only heard this from a group of pirates."

"Well, a pirate has to know everything about the Grand Line in order to survive in it, don't they?" I asked. "Plus, I've decided to join one before I got that information. A good pirate crew. If they offered to let me join."

"Hmm. A good choice and plan."

"I'll say," Usopp agreed. "If we didn't recruite her when we did, there's no way we'll survive here."

"Xion-swan is so lovely when she's smart~!" (gag) loverboy complimented. And just what did he mean by that?

"Then it's settle," Luffy spoke up, chewing on some more fish. "Xion, you're our quartermaster!"

"Why? Shouldn't that also be Zoro's job?" I asked, since our swordsman is the first mate.

"You know more about this place than he does."

"Not that much. Just a little."

"I'm a captain and I say you're our quartermaster!"

"You should give up, Xion," Usopp told me.

"You need a position in this crew anyway," Nami pointed out.

"Guess it can't be helped. And with Zoro in deep sleep like that, someone has to take his place," I sighed in defeat.

"Now then," Crocus spoke up, "since you all know the purpose of the Log Pose, I'll have to advise you with a couple of things. The islands dotting the Grand Line obey the rules created by magnetic fields. So in order to travel from island to island, the Log Pose must readapt to the magnetic field at each island and it will point you to the right direction. The truth is that there is no way to determine your exact location in this ocean. You are utterly dependent on the magnetic field memorized by the Log Pose. You must first choose one of the seven magnetic fields emanating from the Reverse Mountain. Regardless of which island you choose to start from, your route will eventually join with the others in one final route. The name of that island on that final route is... Raftel. The final island here in the Grand Line. In all of history, the only person who confirmed its existance... was the Pirate King. The island is legendary."

"Raftel..." Nami mumbled.

"So it has to be there! One piece!" Usopp excitedly exclaimed.

"Who can tell? That legend is the most prominent of all, but not one other soul has reached there alive," Crocus responded.

"We'll find out when we get there," Luffy spoke, chewing on a fish bone.

"Oh! And by the way... Xion, was it?"

"Yeah. What is it?" I asked Crocus.

"That weapon you have, is it by any chance a Keyblade?" the old doctor asked me.

My eyes widen at his question. "How do you know about my Keyblade?"

"Hm. Then it's just as I thought. I was told by a friend to give this to a young girl weilding one, so here." Crocus took out something from his pocket and gave it to me. That something was...

"A Dream Eater recipe?!" I gasped.

"Whoa! Really?!" Usopp asked.

"No way!" Nami exclaimed.

"Hey, who gave you this and told you to hand it to Xion?" Sanji asked the doctor.

"He told me not to give you his identity, since you might meet him face-to-face somewhere in the Grand Line," Crocus answered. "However, what I can tell you is that he used to weild a Keyblade. He might not be here, but I can tell that he might be watching us, even as we speak."

"Weild a Keyblade?" we all asked.

"If that's true and he told you to give this to Xion, then he might know her!" our sniper excitedly assumed.

"And we're one step closer to knowing who I really am!" I added in the same tone.

"What do you mean by that?" Crocus asked.

"Well, you see, six months ago, Xion lost her memories. So our other reason for traveling the Grand Line is so we can help her retrieve her lost memories," Nami explained.

"I see. I hope you get them all back, then."

"I hope so, too, Crocus," I told him. Looking at the new recipe, it says 'Fin Fatale' on the top, which is the identity of the Dream Eater. I can't wait to know what it looks like.

"Ah. I'm full. Let's set sail!" came Luffy's voice.

We all looked his way and saw empty plates. Just how big is his appetite and stomach?! Not that I was hungry, but... still!

"YOU HOGGED IT ALL FOR YOURSELF?!" Sanji furiously asked.

"Whoa! Even the bones!" Usopp added, eyes bugging out at the plates.

"The Log Pose, huh? This is truly precious. Our fate at sea is counting on it," Nami said to herself, looking at the said item on her left wrist, ignoring the boys.

"Now I wonder what kind of Dream Eater will be born from this recipe," I muttered, reading the ingredients for the new ally.

"You freaking shitty GOMU!" Sanji yelled.

"I wanted Nami-san and Xion-san... I wanted Nami-san and Xion-san to..." Luffy looked his way. "BE THE ONES TO EAT IT!" Did I not tell him about my appetite? Ah, forget it.

It wasn't long after Sanji kicked Luffy for eating the whole fish that I heard a slight crack. Looking at the source, I saw that Nami's eyes are lifeless. Staring at her wrist, I can see the reason for it. Those two somehow broke the Log Pose. It's a good thing that I bought two of them back in Loguetown and that Mr. Nine and Ms. Wednesday dropped their's. Yet, despite that, I can somehow tell that Luffy and Sanji are going to get it.

"Sanji-kun," the navigator called.

"Yes~! Nami-san~!"

'_He doesn't realize what he had done, does he?_' I mentally asked, even though I know how dense our chef can be at times.

"YOU TWO! GO SOAK YOUR HEADS!" With that, Nami kicked both him and Luffy into the sea. Geez, how strong is this woman?!

"Oi! Hold up! That was really, REALLY important, wasn't it?!" Usopp asked her, eyes bugging out and teeth being shark-like.

"Our precious Log Pose..."

"I thought I told you guys that I also have one on me. Two of them I might add," I spoke up. As soon as I did, Nami and Usopp looked at me with tears coming out of their eyes.

"Xion..." the girl spoke.

"You're too reliable as our quartermaster..." Usopp said, crying. "Why can't you be our captain instead?"

I was too speechless at this scene. I didn't know how to cheer them up. Then again, they're just crying because they are happy that I came more prepared than our captain.

"I like to give you my Log Pose, as well," Crocus said, handing me the said object. "Just in case you somehow lost the other two. I owe you guys for helping Laboon."

"Thank you, Crocus," I said, accepting his Log Pose.

As soon as I accepted it, Laboon spat out Luffy, Sanji and two others onto the shore, saving them.

"Phew. I thought I was dead," Luffy breathed. It was then I noticed that those two others that Laboon saved were none other than Mr. Nine and Ms. Wednesday, was getting help from Sanji.

"I have a request," said the man with the 9 on his cheeks.

A couple minutes later, after our captain and chef brought those two to us, we all listened to their request.

"Whiskey Peak?" Luffy asked. "Weird name."

"What is it?" Usopp asked them.

"It's the town that we live in! Um... sir," Mr. Nine told them, on his knees.

"Don't you have your own ship?" Nami asked.

"Sadly, it was destroyed," Ms. Wednesday replied, also on her knees.

"Wouldn't that be a little to kind on our part, Mr. Nine? Considering you tried to kill that whale."

"Just who are you two?" Usopp asked after Nami.

"I am a King!" Mr. Nine quickly answered. Though it was obviously a lie. Even Nami saw through that.

"We cannot say!" Ms. Wednesday admitted.

"All we want, however, is to return to our town! We really didn't want to do this kind of underhanded work!"

"But please understand! Secrecy is our organization's motto!"

"We truly cannot say anything!"

"We are begging you kind people to help us!"

"We will surely repay your kindness!"

Oh dear. Just looking at them like this, my bad habit is acting up. They aren't lying after all. Since they dropped their Log Pose on our ship. So even if they do kill Laboon, they will be lost if they try to set sail.

"Don't listen to them," Crocus advised. "No matter what they say, they're a couple of underhanded sleazebags."

"The thing is, we just broke this Log Pose and don't have another. Are you sure you still want to come?" Nami half-lied. Why would she anyway? I'll never understand this woman.

"WHAT?! YOU BROKE IT?! THAT WAS MINE, Y'KNOW!" Mr. Nine snapped.

"You made us throw ourselves at your feet when you can't even go anywhere!?" Ms. Wednesday added and summarized.

"Oh! BUT Crocus-san gave us another one. And our reliable quartermaster just told us that she bought two before we got here," our evil navigator added.

Hearing the added information, those two went back on their knees. "We throw ourselves on mrecy of your kindness!" Mr. Nine quickly spoke.

"Sure. You can come," Luffy told them. "It's called Whiskey Peak? Let's go there."

"O-oi! Are you serious?!" our sniper asked. "We just met these guys and you're going to bring them along just like that?!"

"It's fine. Don't worry about the small stuff," he simply said.

"But, Luffy, the only place we can decide our course from is here at the starting point," I told our captain.

"If we don't like it, we can just come back here."

I sighed once again in defeat. Well, at least I don't have to regret myself when we start our journey, if we refuse their request. Even if they were trying to kill Laboon.

"I've made my promise to the whale, so let's get ready to leave," Luffy added, stretching his arms out like a normal human.

"And just who are you?" Ms. Wednesday asked.

"Me? I'm the man who's going to become the king of pirates!" Of course he'll say that. Of what I heard from the others, he'll do anything to achieve that dream.

Some time later, at sunset, we were all getting ready to leave. Surprisingly, Zoro's still asleep. Of what I know, no one takes a nap this long.

"Everything's ready," Crocus said. "Your Log should be set. Did you orient it to a map?"

"Yeah," Nami nodded to him. "It's pointing to Whiskey Peak."

"Later, Flower-ossan! Thanks for the Log Pose!" Luffy waved.

"Sure. Now get going."

"See ya! I'll be back, whale!"

"The whale has a name, y'know," I softly stated.

"Set course to Whiskey Peak! Full speed ahead!" Luffy ordered.

"AYE!" all of us Straw Hats agreed, as Laboon wailed.

'_**Luffy! Everyone! Good luck on your journey!**_' I heard his inner voice say.

When they were out of sight, Luffy ordered me to create the new Dream Eater that Crocus gave me. I obeyed that order, even though I wanted to enjoy watching the sun set a little longer, and went to get the ingredients for our newcomer, since no one on this ship knows what any of those ingredients look like or where they are. After getting the items, I went back on deck and saw a few curious faces. Mr. Nine and Ms. Wednesday seemed more curious out of all of them, since they are our guests for the ride, they don't know what the ingredients are used for. Summoning Starlight, I 'searched' for the Fin Fatale's voice.

'_Hey. Are you there?_' I asked it.

'_**Yeah. I'm here,**_' a boyish voice replied. '_**I've been waiting for you all this time. I'm glad that my creator handed me to one of his friends. Although, it still sucks to wait all this time for a Keyblade weilder like you to show up in this world and bring me back to the living.**_'

'_Well, I guess it's time for the waiting to end._' At that, I did the routine and reawakened the creature.

The new Dream Eater is similiar to a piranha. The face is green, it has jaws and the eyes are yellow. On both side of the Dream Eater's jaws are green spiral-like formations. The body is dark blue, it has a horn on its head and two small ones on its chin. Along each side are four orange spots. It has light blue fins and a tail with blue, green, purple, pink, red and orange stripes. This is what the Fin Fatale looks like.

"OH! A FISH!" Luffy excitedly spoke. "It looks good!" The piranha Dream Eater heard that statement, quickly went behind Luffy and stabbed him in the butt with its horn.

"Dream Eaters are not food!" the whole crew and I yelled at our brainless captain. If I remember correctly, I told him that Dream Eaters are not something he can eat. How can he easily forget that?

After another hard stab or two in the butt, Luffy finally apologized to the Fin Fatale. Accepting his apology, the Dream Eater stopped the stabbing and swam, or, in this case, floated, towards me.

"It may look like a piranha, but the way it attacked Luffy just now is like a torpedo," Usopp stated.

"And for a fish, it's floating," Nami observed.

"And since it's a fish, we might not have any problems with trying to get some if we run out of food," Sanji said.

"Judging from what Usopp said about you, your name will be Torpedo," I told the new and reborn creature, who was making happy sounds.

"Hang on a second!" our guests voices shouted. Surprisingly, Zoro didn't wake up by the outburst.

"Are you sure it's all right for that 'thing' to stay on this ship?!" Mr. Nine asked.

"You said it yourself! It's a pirahna! Who would want a pirahna as a pet?!" Ms. Wednesday asked.

Hearing the word 'pet' made me snap a little. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PET?!" I yelled, whacking them with the backside of my weapon, forming a bump on their head. "Dream Eaters may look like animals, but unlike most of them, they understand human language _and_ have unique abilities! You call them pet again and it won't be just Torpedo that that has to teach you a lesson!" I added, my new Dream Eater growled in agreement.

"Yes, ma'am," they both replied. With that, our adventure here in the Grand Line truly begins.


	3. Crazy Weathers and Unusual Welcomes

It's been a few hours since we've sailed to Mr. Nine and Ms. Wednesday's home island. I wondered if Whiskey Peak is a winter island, since it's currently snowing. Right now, Sanji is shoveling the snow off of our ship, Luffy and Usopp are playing in the snow, and they are surprisingly hyper in this freezing weather, Zoro is, also surprisingly, still napping, and Nami is in the kitchen with our 'guests'. Me? I was training as usual. You'll never know when we'll bump into other pirates or Marines.

Instead of my usual black coat, I wore a light blue short-sleeve shirt, blue knee-length jeans, and white sneakers. These were the clothes that Nami got for me and pestered me to have on. It's not as comfortable as my coat, but it's still good. One thing that's been bothering me while I was training, though, is Ms. Wednesday. I can't help but feel like I've seen her from somewhere.

"Nami-san~! How long can I continue my Snow Shoveling of Love~?" I heard Sanji ask our navigator.

"Until it stops snowing, Sanji-kun," she told him.

"Yes, Nami-san~!"

Getting tired from my non-stop training, I went to the kitchen to take a short break.

"Hey, Xion," Nami greeted me.

"Hey," I greeted back, getting some water. All of a sudden, I heard thunder.

"Lightning? What's going on with this weather?" Nami questioned.

Hearing that question made me flinch a bit. I turned to Nami and saw that she's- NOT AT THE HELM!? "Nami, how long were you by the window?" I asked.

"Since it started snowing," she answered, making me spit out the water. "Why?"

"THAT'S NOT GOOD!" I suddenly shouted. "The Log Pose! Please tell me what the Log Pose says!"

"I don't know why you-" Nami stopped when she checked our compass and suddenly screamed.

"IT'S TELLING US THAT WE'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY, ISN'T IT?!" I asked, going to steer the helm with my teeth being razor sharp. "Just go and order the guys to help me!"

"Right!"

"And you two!" I called, turning my head to our 'guests'. "Unless if you want to die here, help us steer the ship! And if I hear you say 'no' or complain or be a smarty-pants, it won't be the ocean that will kill you!"

"Y-y-yes, ma'am!" they both agreed in fear, running out the kitchen.

* * *

_***OUTSIDE**GENERAL'S P.O.V***_

"Everyone! Turn the ship around 180 degrees! Hurry!" Nami ordered.

"180 degrees?" Usopp repeated. "Why are we going back?"

"Did we forget something?" Luffy asked.

"The ship reversed direction and we're going the wrong way!" the navigator explained. "I took my eyes off the Log Pose for a second and the waves were so quiet..."

"Are you really a navigator?" Ms. Wednesday calmly asked, as she and her partner ran out of the kitchen. "On this ocean, the wind, the sky, the waves, the clouds, you can't trust any of it. The only thing you _can_ trust is the direction the Log Pose's needle points. Get it now?"

When she asked the last part, Mr. Nine began to tap his partner's shoulder. "Um... M-ms. Wednesday..." he called.

Ms. Wednesday turned to her partner and saw him trembling. The moment she faced him, Mr. Nine pointed his thumb at Xion, who emitted a black, icy cold aura, giving them a cold look.

"Perhaps my warning wasn't clear," she said. "I told you that I'll kill you if you don't help or if you complain or be a smarty-pants about knowing more about this sea. And that includes giving lectures to our navigator."

"O-o-oh no, Ms. Black-Coat, you're warning is perfectly clear!" Ms. Wednesday said, trembling. "I was just telling your navigator that you can only trust the Log Pose here in the Grand Line."

"There's time for that if we get out of this crazy weather!" Xion scolded. "Now all of you help me turn this ship or else!"

At that command, everyone, except Zoro, who's still sleeping, went and do whatever they can to turn the ship around.

"She's a demon, that girl. Yet she's so reliable," Mr. Nine mumbled.

"Wait! The wind is changing!" Usopp announced, looking up at the sky.

True to his words, the sky cleared up and it was a little windy.

"The first sign of spring!" Mr. Nine identified.

"You idiot!" Usopp shouted at Zoro, unaffected by the situation and still asleep. "Don't sleep when you're covered in snow!"

"Oi! There's a pod of dolphins over there! Let's go and see them!" Luffy informed.

"SHUT UP, YOU!" Nami and Xion yelled at him.

* * *

_***XION'S P.O.V***_

AHHH! How did we end up in this situation?! If I know any better, I would've told someone on this ship to steer the helm or do it myself instead of just thinking about getting stronger! I'm such an idiot! Some quartermaster I am!

"Iceberg at 10 o'clock!" Usopp warned, as fog suddenly formed.

"Nami-san! There's fog!" Sanji told her the obvious.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS OCEAN?!" she asked no one in paticular.

"I'm bringing backup!" I shouted to Nami. "**Summon: Majik Lapin, Ryu Dragon, Komory Bat, Fin Fatale!**" All of Xion's Dream Eaters came out and waited for her command. "Nami! There should be some harness and ropes in my bag in our room! Take three of each out and meet me at the front!"

"Right!" Nami replied, running to their room.

"Lapin! You steer the ship! Try and get us away from the iceberg! Prevent this ship from being hit by it!" I continued to order. "The rest of you with me!" With that, my remaining Dream Eaters and I ran out to the front of the ship.

"Hey! You!" Oh, not now. "If you're not steering the wheel, then who will?!"

"For your information, Mr. Nine, I already have someone else steering the wheel!" I yelled at him. "Now if you want to live, ignore my business and help out! Sanji! Go to the helm and help my Dream Eater steer the ship to the right!"

"Yes, Xion-swan~!" the chef instantly agreed.

"Xion! I got the harnesses and ropes!" Nami informed.

"Good! Equip two of the harnesses to Wyvern and Torpedo and tie two of the ropes to their harness and the railings! Quickly!" I shouted. As soon as I gave that command, I took the human size harness and equipped it onto myself as Nami worked on the other two Dream Eaters. After putting my harness on, I grabbed one of the ropes and tied one end to the right side of the railing and the other end on my harness.

"Fang!" I called, having the bat Dream Eater to come to my aid. "Let's do it!" Knowing what I was thinking, Fang screech in agreement.

"Xion! The two Dream Eaters have their harness on and attach to the railing!" Nami informed. "Just what are you thinking of doing?!"

"We're going to hiiiit!" I heard Usopp scream.

"Let's go, guys! **Link Action: Fly-by Knight!**" Fang got his claws on me, lending me his wings. Wyvern, Torpedo and I then jumped off of Merry and flew or, in Torpedo's case, swam, pulling our ship away from the iceberg with everyone's help.

"Go for it, Xion! Dragon! Fish!" Luffy cheered.

"Don't cheer for us! Make yourself useful!" I yelled. When we miraculously passed the iceberg without taking any damage, the clouds were moving towards us and the wind got stronger.

"Take in the sails! The wind's getting too strong! If the sails catch that much, we'll capsize!" Nami ordered and informed. "Xion! It's too dangerous to fly or swim right now! Get back to the ship!"

"I know that, but how are we going to get out of this storm faster if we have to furl the sails?!" I asked. "We can't rely on luck or miracles!"

"Xion-san! At least have a rice ball for your energy!" Sanji offered.

"Not right now! And didn't I tell you to steer the helm with Lapin?!"

"Crap! The sail's tearing!" Usopp shouted. The wind got too strong, so it's mostly impossible to furl the sails. Good thing the ropes are as long as half the ship.

"Wyvern! Help them take the sail in!" I ordered my dragon.

"We've sprung a leak below deck!" Ms. Wednesday announced, having Usopp to run down and fix it.

* * *

Several hours later, after we somehow got out of the storm, all of us were on deck, exhausted. The ones who are most exhausted are me, Wyvern, Fang, and Torpedo, since we had to drag the ship out of the storm and back on track. The only one, however, out of all of us, who isn't exhausted beside Luffy is-

"Good nap." Oh, look who finally woke up. "Oi, oi. Aren't you guys being a little lazy on a nice day like this? You know where we're heading right?"

'_YOU..._' I mentally growled.

"Why are you two on board?" Zoro asked Mr. Nine and Ms. Wednesday.

"TOO SLOW!" Mr. Nine yelled.

"We're bringing them back to their home town," Luffy explained. "It's called Whiskey Peak."

"So we're giving them a lift?" Zoro simply placed it. "It's not like we owe them anything."

"Yeah. We don't."

"Well, not that I care."

Ignoring whatever word he has to say then, I got up and returned all my tired Dream Eaters into their card. After returning them back in, I undid my harness and walked towards Zoro, Starlight in hand. I then noticed Nami also walking up to our swordsman, her fist raised.

'_Probably have the same idea that I have,_' I thought. When we were close enough, Nami punched Zoro hard in the head and I soon follow with swinging my Keyblade on the same spot where she hit him.

"YOU..." she spoke, fiery orange aura circling around her. "I hope you enjoy that little _nap_ of yours..."

"Snoring away like you did... no matter how many times we tried to wake you. Some swordsman you are," I added, with black aura circling around me.

Zoro looked back at us with green aura surrounding him, only to recieve more punches or swings on his head, therefore earning bumps on his bumps and some blood leaking out of his head.

"Stay on your toes, everyone," Nami spoke. "We won't know what will happen next. I can finally grasp the fearsomeness of this ocean. I understand why they call it the Grand Line. But it hasn't even begun to see MY navigation skills! Bet on it!"

"Such confidence," I muttered.

"Are we really going to be okay?" Usopp asked.

"We will be okay. Something good'll come our way," Nami answered. "And if you want proof, look." She point at an island ahead of us. "The first leg of our journey is complete!" The island ahead of us has huge cactus-like things on them. Though there's something odd about them besides the height.

"Land ho!" Luffy happily screamed.

"So this is Whiskey Peak..." Sanji mumbled, smoking. "Sure is a weird-looking island."

"Look at those huge cacti!"

We then heard a thud sound and turned to the right to see Mr. Nine and Ms. Wednesday on the railing.

"And this is our stop," Mr. Nine said.

"Thanks for the ride, honeys," Ms. Wednesday thanked.

"We'll meet again, if it is to be!"

"Bye-bye, baby," they both said in unison. With that those two jumped off the railing, doing a backflip and swam to the island.

'_Wouldn't it be easier if they stayed on the ship until the ride is over?_' I thought. '_It's less work than swimming. And why does Ms. Wednesday look familiar?_'

"There they go," Nami said.

"Who were those guys?" Usopp questioned.

"Who cares? We're here!" Luffy asked and exclaimed.

"There seems to be a river mouth up ahead," I spoke. "We can disembark there."

"You don't think there'll be monsters or stuff here, do you?" our sniper asked, trembling.

"Could be. This _is_ the Grand Line," Sanji said.

"If we meet some monsters, we can just leave, right?" our captain guessed.

"We can't," Nami said. "Don't forget there is a certain amount of time we have to stay on this island."

"How come?"

"We have to let the Log Pose adapt to the island's magnetic field or we won't continue to the next island," I explained. "The time it takes for each island is different. Some takes hours while other takes days."

"What?! So even if we want to get off of the 'Monster Island', we might not be able to leave for DAYS because of the Log?!" Usopp asked.

'_If that is a monster island, then Mr. Nine and Ms. Wednesday wouldn't ask us to go to this island or swim there,_' I mentally pointed out.

"Well if that happens, we'll worry then. Let's just go!" Luffy said.

"Luffy's right," Zoro agreed. "Let's go. Just thinking about it isn't getting us anywhere."

"And no matter what happens, I'll protect Nami-san and Xion-san," Sanji added with confidence.

"I can take care of myself," I told him. "Besides, I have my own bodygaurds."

Usopp was going to say something, but was interrupted by Nami. Even if he wasn't interrupted, I couldn't hear what he's saying, due to the fake raspy voice that he had on.

"Let's go guys," Nami said. "But remember, be prepared to run or fight at any time."

As we sailed to the island, it got foggy. I was prepared to have my Keyblade out for whatever will come at us. I then had a weird feeling like we're being spied on, but decide to ignore it, thinking that it was just my imagination.

"Hey. Something's moving," Luffy announced.

"People? Those are people!" Sanji identified.

"Everyone, on your guard," Nami told us.

"Damn it. I have to brace myself for anything," Usopp spoke, quivering. "Be it monsters or something. COME ON OUT!"

Instead of monsters or people with weapons, there were people welcoming us.

"The Monster Island is welcoming us?"

"Look again, Usopp." I muttered. "Are monsters suppose to look like people?"

"Well... I guess not..."

Even though they are welcoming us, I can tell that it's nothing but a trap. Who would welcome pirates or call them heroes of the sea? Of what I heard and know, many people are scared of pirates.

When we docked near shore, we were kindly greeted by a man with curled up hair.

"Welco- Ahem! Mah-mah-maaah~! Welcome. My name is Igarappoi. I am the mayor of Whiskey Peak," he introduced. And what a nice voice he has when he did the vocals.

"I'm Luffy. Nice to meet you," our straw hat wearing captain greeted. "Ossan, your hair's way too curly."

"This is the town of spirit brewing and lively music, Whiskey Peak," the mayor continued, ignoring his statement. "We take pride in our hospitality. We have an entire ocean of statements for your enjoyment. Would you care to join us in celebration and share your stories of adventures? We would be- Ahem! Mah-mah-maaah~! We would be delighted to hear them."

Of course, half of us instantly agreed to the offer.

"Three stooges," Nami stated.

"You can say that again," I agreed. "Excuse me, Mayor Igarappoi, how long will it take for the Log to adapt to this island?"

"Well, aren't you a lady," he complimented me. "But let's not talk about such formal things. You and your friends should take a well-deserve rest from your travels." He walked up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder in a friendly way. "Now everyone! Prepare for a celebration! A song for our adventurous guests!" All the islanders agreed to the mayor's suggestion.

Despite all this friendly atmosphere, I smell rats on this island. And they're all around us.

* * *

That night, half of us were having a time of our lives in this celebration. And by half, I mean Luffy, Usopp and Sanji, the three who were either stuffing their mouths with food, telling stories about our adventures that are partly a lie, and getting comforts from the girls of this island. Zoro, Nami and I were either drinking alcohol or just sitting on the couch.

"Here. Feel free to help yourself," the mayor offered us female pirates.

"No, no. I'm good without alcohol," Nami kindly rejected.

"Me, too," I said.

"Don't worry- Ahem! Mah-mah-maaah~! Don't worry yourself," Igarappoi said. "This is our finest wine, made from the highest quality grapes on this island. Our Special Drink. Although it is call the Wine of the Sea, there's little alcohol in it."

Accepting it, Nami took a sip of the drink. "You're right! It's delicious!" she complimented. "Xion, try some!"

Making it look like that I drank some, since I still feel something off about this island, I placed the cup on my mouth and tilt it a bit. "Wow! This _is_ good!" I lied.

"This year's grape harvest was exceptional," he continued. "Now to celebrate the harvest, our traditional Kanpai Contest! Let me explain. It's a contest where everyone keeps drinking, and the last one standing is the winner. Everyone, please join in!"

'_How dumb does he think I am?_' I asked myself. '_He just wants us to drink until we all collapse so he could kill us._'

"I'm fine," Nami kindly turned down. "I couldn't possibly drink that much."

"And the prize is... B100,000!" Igarappoi added, taking out the bag of said belli. The money is enough to have Nami change her mind, for she instantly asked for a refill.

"I'll sit this one out," I spoke up.

"Why, Xion?" our navigator asked.

"I just remember that I have some things to do on the ship. I'll be back as soon as I can." That said, I left the party and the building.

'_I should hide somewhere instead of just walking to the ship,_' I told myself, jumping to the top of the building where the party is being held. I then saw three people coming out of the said building, each with a sword in their hand. Deciding to fight instead of just sitting there in boredom, I jumped off the building, catching those guys off guard.

"Looking for me, boys?" I sarcastically asked.

"There she is!" "Get her!" At that point, I led them to someplace where no one at the party can hear us or see us.

Once I felt like we were far enough, I cut the chase and faced them.

"What's wrong, pirate?" the guy with a black bandana asked me. "Finally decide to give up?"

"Who said that I'm the type to give up without a fight?" I asked him, taking out my Keyblade. "I hope you're ready. Back in East Blue, I'm known as a demon."

"Hah! Yeah right! I've never heard of such a thing and I used to live on an island there," the guy with freckles said.

"Well, that's because I've had that title for six months. Now, enough talk. I already know that my nakama are in danger and I don't want to waste any more time talking to you three."

"Took the words right out of my mouth!" the bandana wearing guy agreed, as he and the other two charged at me with their swords.

Of course, the difference in our levels and battle experience is so great, I easily took them out. "Be glad that I'm not a killer," I said, running back to the party.

I got back to the building and saw that the lights are still on. Going back in my position on the roof, I waited patiently for it to end and for Mr. Nine and Ms. Wednesday to arrive here.

'_Now that I think about it, where are those two?_' I wondered, not that it matters.

* * *

"Honestly, they are a stubborn bunch," a female voice said, as a door opened and closed, waking me up.

'_Man, I fell asleep,_' I scolded myself.

"We had to keep putting more and more alcohol in their drinks," the voice continued, I looked down and saw a group of four people, three of them being Mr. Nine, Ms. Wednesday and Igarappoi. The fourth one is a nun. "If we didn't, they'd still be awake and cause a ruckus. Still, was it really necessary to put on that drama? For six measly little kids?" The nun took of her clothes, revealing a red and white dress and her muscular body, literally. Her body is like a guys'! "We should've finished them off at the harbor. Even without them here, the whole town has a food storage to worry about."

'_As I thought,_' I mentally said. '_Those guys were just acting._' I suddenly felt a pat on my shoulder and got ready to defend myself, only to see Zoro right beside me, telling me to keep quiet. I nodded my head to him in understanding.

"Compose yourselves!" Igarappoi shouted. "Look at this. I've been doing some research on them." He then took out Luffy's wanted poster.

"B30,000,000?!" the other three read in shock.

"_THOSE_ GUYS?!" Mr. Nine added.

"No. This is only the captain's," Igarappoi corrected. "I found out about the other one some time after I sent three of our men to get her and couldn't believe what I've found out, that I sent seven more to back them up."

'_Other one?_' I mentally asked. '_Meaning me?_'

"Why is that?" Ms. Wednesday asked.

"You'll be even more shock about this one than the other one," the mayor spoke, taking out another bounty poster.

"B60,000,000?!" they read louder than before.

"Just for that one girl?!" Ms. Wednesday questioned.

I heard Zoro softly whistle next to me, sitting down with his legs cross. "Twice of Luffy's bounty. But I wonder how."

"Did you forget the fact that I fight and defeat many pirates and bandits, even if they work together and combine their bounty to B50,000,000?" I asked the swordsman.

"Oh, yeah." That reply was more than enough hint to tell me that he did forget.

"But now that they've been disposed of, and since I've sent some of our best fighters after that girl, we can make a favorable report to the boss. We'll then take all the valuables from their ship."

"And what about them?" the muscular woman asked.

"What do we do?" Mr. Nine added.

"If we kill them, we won't have the full B90,000,000. The government enjoys their public execution after all. Go! Capture them alive!" Igarappoi explained.

"Hey," Zoro spoke up, raising one of his swords. "Sorry to interrupt, but could you let them sleep a little longer? They're tired from this afternoon's voyage."

"I agree with Zoro here. Even though I did more work than they did, they deserve it due to the constant weather changes from this afternoon," I pointed out.

The group of four slowly turned to face us. It was then that someone walked out of the building.

"Mr. Eight! Ms. Monday! The one wearing a haramaki has escaped...!" he informed.

"He's up there," Ms. Wednesday told him, as all the other islanders ran out of the building.

"MR. EIGHT!" another voice called. "We couldn't find the girl! And the first three that you sent are dead!"

"The girl's up there, as well," Mr. Nine informed.

"You fiends!" Igarappoi, or should I say, Mr. Eight, growled. "You, boy, should've been completely unconscious! As for you, girl, did you really kill them?!"

"No true swordsman, no matter what the circumstances, allows himself to be overwhelmed by drink," Zoro told them.

"I didn't think I hit those three that hard," I innocently answered.

"So then, this place is a nest of bounty hunters," the Santouryu (three-swords style) swordsman observed. "You decieve merry pirates the instant they made it to the Grand Line and then take them for all they worth."

"There seems to be 100 bounty hunters here," I informed. "We'll take you all on, Baroque Works."

"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT NAME?!" Mr. Eight asked, as he and the other hunters and members of that organization gasped and shook in shock.

"Back when I was still known as the demon of Tanoshi Island in East Blue, your boss's assistant offered me a position in your organization, which I turned down."

"I know of the organization as well, back when I was still a bounty hunter myself. They sent a scout to try to recruit me. Of course, I refused," Zoro told us.

"Everyone in that place know nothing about each other and call each other by a codename," I continued. "For the guys, it's numbers. As for the girls, it days and holidays."

"And as for the boss, his location and identity is a mystery to everyone, even the members."

"All except for his partner, of course. A criminal organization that faithfully carries out their orders, that's Baroque Works."

"Now was that suppose to be a secret?" Zoro asked.

"This is surprising," Mr. Eight spoke. "Since you know our little secret, we have no choice but to eliminate you two. And then, we'll add two more gravestones to the Cactus Rocks." When he said that, many blue soldier-like creatures appeared out of nowhere. And they all have the Heartless mark on their chest.

While Mr. Eight was talking, I summoned Starlight and decided to use a little magic on me and Zoro. "I'll take on those blue soldiers. You just focus on those bounty hunters," I told Zoro.

"Fine by me," he responded, smirking.

As soon as Mr. Eight gave out the order to kill us, I whispered a spell. "... **Vanish**..." Thanks to that spell, me and Zoro instantly became invisible, surprising the Baroque Works members and the bounty hunters. And now, the real fight begins.


	4. Zoro and Xion vs Baroque Works

"Get her!" a bounty hunter ordered the Soldiers, having them to chase after me.

"Don't let her get away!" another one shouted.

"We'll be rich of we get her!" a female hunter stated.

"How did this happen?!" I wondered out loud.

* * *

_***EARLIER***_

"T-they're gone!" Mr. Nine shouted.

"W-where the hell did they go?!" Mr. Eight demanded, as they all looked around to find me and Zoro.

One of the bunty hunters spotted us, having the rest to look back and widen their eyes in shock. '_Guess the effect wore off,_' I thought.

"Shall we?" Zoro asked, smirking at them.

"Bastard! Making fun of us!" a hunter shouted, as those surrounding us pointed their guns at us. "FIRE!"

"**Stop!**" I shouted, as they pulled the trigger. Due to that spell, the bullets were floating in mid-air. The sight of this surprised everyone except my crewmate. Seeing this as an opening, I used the 'vanish' spell again on me and Zoro and ran away from our spot with the swordsman. The moment we made our move, the 'stop' spell wore off on those bullets. And instead of us, they hit some of the hunters, therefore killed them.

"How is that possible?!" Mr. Eight questioned. "They shot each other!"

"And those two disappeared again!" Mr. Nine added.

"But that girl, how was she able to stop those bullets?" Ms. Wednesday asked.

"It matters not how that girl stopped those bullets! Just kill them! They're just a swordsman and a devil fruit user!" Mr. Eight ordered them.

The 'vanish' effect wore off again, revealing Zoro behind the guy with his sword through his curly hair. As for me, I was in the center of a group of Heartless.

'_**Xion,**_' came Voice's voice. '_**Those Heartless are Soldiers. They are slightly stronger than the Shadows, but aren't that much of a challenge. You just have to avoid or block their claws and their kicks.**_'

'_Got it, Voice,_' I mentally responded.

"There they are!" shouted more snipers, as they pointed their guns at Zoro and the Soldiers prepared to attack me. They all went for a claw attack or a spin attack. However, I'm prepared for a group attack like this.

"**Round Blitz!**" I shouted, performing a spin attack when they got close enough, blowing them away. "You want me, come and get me," I then provoked. Those words, not only had all the Soldiers to come after me, but some of the bounty hunters as well.

* * *

_***PRESENT***_

'_Oh, yeah, I provoked them,_' I said to myself. I continued to run until we got away from Zoro and the other hunters. When we all got to the dock, I skid to a stop and turned to face them. '_This should be far enough._'

"What's wrong? Admitting defeat?" a bounty hunter wearing a beanie asked.

"Who said that I am?" I asked back. "I was just getting started. **Summon: Majik Lapin, Ryu Dragon, Komory Bat, Fin Fatale!**" All my Dream Eaters were released from their cards, surprising the hunters.

"Wh-what are those things?!" "Animals?!" "But their size and colors are off! And there's a dragon!" "Who cares?! We have back up of our own!" At that point, the shock were replaced with confidence.

"Sorry to say, but these guys aren't going to be easy to defeat. And neither am I," I warned, as they all charge at us with their swords.

Unfortunately for them, they were all defeated by Lapin's magic tricks, Wyvern's fire attacks, Fang's screeches and Torpedo's water blast. As for the Soldiers, while my Dream Eaters were handling the hunters, I was having slight difficulty with them. But a couple of spells and some status-effect-attacks were enough to destroy them.

"I tried to warn them," I muttered. "But those guys should be thankful that you didn't do any big damage on them, or they wouldn't live." The Dream Eaters screeched in unison in agreement. "Now then, let's get back to Zoro. He might need some back up." '_And that Ms. Wednesday, why can't I shake off this uneasy feeling about her? I know I've seen her face before. But where?_' "Well, at any case, let's just head over to his side. You all deserve some rest. Get back in the cards." With that, my partners went back in and I dashed over to Zoro's side.

* * *

I arrived there just in time to see Zoro get hit by Ms. Monday. Some then appeared as her fist made contact with his face it made me worry a little. A punch like that would kill a normal person. And since Zoro isn't really consider normal, there's a possibility that he survived from that punch.

"What a wagh- Ahem! Ma-ma~ What a waste of time. But it looks like he's finished. It's 'The End'," Mr. Eight spoke. He and the other Barowue Works members were going to leave, as I was going to fight them, when they heard a high-pitch scream. We all turned to the source and saw Ms. Monday getting crush in Zoro's hand, literally.

"M-ms. Monday!" Mr. Nine called.

"What happened to all that boasting?" we heard Zoro asked. "Didn't you want a contest of strength? Eh?" After he asked his questions, he seemed to have slightly squeeze Ms. Monday's head, for her body became limp. The swordsman looked down at the remaining members. "Wanna keep going Baroque Works? This fight is a joke. And I see that you're done on your side, Xion."

"Yeah. Those Heartless were easy to beat. As well as those bounty hunters that wanted to take my head," I said, smirking.

"Wha-?!" came the hunters' voice.

"Wh-wh-when did she-?!" Mr. Nine tried to ask.

"Those creatures?!" a bounty hunter asked. "And that guy beat Ms. Monday in a battle of strength!?"

"This can't be!" another hunter exclaimed.

"I got it!" Mr. Eight shouted. "I see. A bounty of 60 million is reasonable for you, girl. And those Marines made a mistake on the other bounty, as well as the information."

"I see," Mr. Nine nodded, regaining his composure. "So that's what's going on. If that swordsman is the one worth B30,000,000 and that girl is the real captain, then it makes perfect sense."

"So that's it," Ms. Wednesday spoke. "I thought it was strange for such a smiley-face kid to be worth B30,000,000, much less a captain."

"If we're talking about strange, it's you," I said, pointing my Keyblade at the blue-haired girl. "I can't help feel like I've seen your face from somewhere. And of what I know, the only person I've met from Baroque Works is your boss' assistant. Which would mean that I've seen your face before you joined the organization." Hearing those information from my mouth made Ms. Wednesday and Mr. Eight flinch. "So this whole 'secrecy' thing for your identity is useless, if someone knows who you really are. I don't know where I've seen your face, but I do know that you're important. In what way, I don't really know."

As soon as I finish my little speech, Mr. Eight took out his saxaphone and blew into it. Coming out of it were- BULLETS?! Seeing those come straight at me, I quickly blocked them with Starlight. However, because those came from a musical-like instrument, it caught me off guard and a couple grazed my already scarred cheek and shot my left leg. Even though the shot was painful, I was still standing.

"In a battle, you do not bring up the past," he said. "You say you know Ms. Wednesday? Then why don't you remember what you know about her?"

"I don't feel like telling you why," I said. "Zoro, you handle Mr. Eight and Nine! I'll handle what's left."

"Heh. Sure thing," he agreed.

A moment of silence came and ended by Mr. Eight's intrument-like shotgun, which was aimed at me. "**Igarappa!**" And out came bullets. Though he should know that I'm not the type to fall for the same attack twice. That said I back-flipped out of the way.

"We strike, Ms. Wednesday!" I heard Mr. Nine say.

"R-right, Mr. Nine!" Ms. Wednesday replied. "You guys, back me up!" she then ordered the remaining bounty hunters. "Come, Carue!" As she called and whistled for Carue, a big, yellow duck with a blue hat and saddle, pink bag and a small barrel with a straw around its neck came. Instead of going to her side, it held out a wing. "NOT 'SHAKE'! I SAID GET OVER HERE!"

'_**Yes princess,**_' I heard the duck's thoughts. Wait, PRINCESS?! Why is a princess working for the Baroque Works?!

"You're open!" a hunter shouted, bringing me out of my thoughts. He swung his sword down at me, having me to block it with my Keyblade. Due to that, however, the other two bounty hunters swung their sword down, attempting to cut my head off.

"**Binding Strike!**" I yelled, as I did a spin attack on those three, pushing them back a little.

"Nice try, but it's going to take a lot more than that to kill us!" a bounty hunter with mohawk-style hair stated, as he and the others charged at me. Or tried to.

"Sorry, but that attack is more than a spin attack," I told them. "Hope you enjoy staying in one spot, even though you _can_ move."

"Wait, what?!" "You can't be serious!" "How long are we going to be like this?!"

"Until something hits you," I answered. "But man, I wish people like you can be more of a challenge." I was going to walk away when I felt my left leg sting due to the bullet.

"A more challenging person? That would be me, then," came Ms. Wednesday's voice. I turned to her and see the princess standing on the oversize duck. "Be prepared, Starlight Blade!"

"Look, I don't want to hurt you," I told her. '_If what that duck said is serious, I have to avoid hurting her._'

"Hmph. Wish I could say the same. Especially in your condition," the princess said. "I hope you're ready."

"Yeah! Get her, Ms. Wednesday!" "Teach that girl a lesson!"

"Now then... Enjoy the sensuous fragrance of my perfume," said the princess, as she got into a stance and revealed to me a bottle of perfume in on of her hands. "**Miwaku no Kosui Dance.**" As she dance a little, she sprayed some of the perfume.

Like the first time, I shouldn't let my guard down. Why? Because my body felt funny when I breathed in some of the perfume. In fact my body felt a little numb and the perfume made me fell on my knees. It's not just me; the three bounty hunters also fell on their knees.

"What's that perfume?" I demanded.

"Just some special perfume that allows my opponent to be unable to move and helpless to defend from any attacks," the princess answered, taking out a small weapon, attached to a string. "Let's go, Carue! **Kujakki Slasher!**" The duck, now known as Carue, charged at me, with the princess riding it.

"You know what I see?" I began to ask. "A soon-to-be roast duck. **Fire Surge!**" I was suddenly revolved in rings of fire and charged myself at the princess and the duck. Because of the appearance, the duck skid to a stop and ran off at a random direction. Even Ms. Wednesday is freaked out by this.

"Run Carue! She's not normal! She's a devil!" she yelled.

'_**I KNOW! I KNOW! I KNOW!**_' the duck quaked.

"What kind of princess makes an insults?!" I questioned.

Ms. Wednesday looked back at me with a questioned look. Before she could say anything, the duck crashed into a wall, having her to hit her head on the same wall and faint. I skid to a stop and had the fire to die down before I went on my knees.

"Maybe I overdid it with the flames," I thought out loud, breathing heavily due to the pain on my left leg. "Well, at least she'll be okay and out of trouble. Now to see what's going on with Zoro. But first, I need to get the bullet out." As soon as I said that, a human-like figure was flying towards me. Using my instinct, I rolled to my right and have him crash into a wall and slide down on the princess.

'_Well, judging from Mr. Nine's condition, Zoro seems to be doing fine with him and Mr. Eight,_' I told myself. '_Still, should I just leave or should I bring the princess with me? There has to be a reason for her to join the Baroque Works. So maybe..._' "Then again, I can't be too sure. Some pets are a bit too loyal to their owner. Well, I should just meet up with Zoro for now. I'll worry about the bullet later." That said, I ran to the direction where Mr. Nine came from, limping a little.

* * *

_***GENERAL'S P.O.V***_

Meanwhile, in an alley near Xion's battle, a mysterious man in black was observing the whole thing.

"So it's true," he said. "The puppet is still alive. But how is that possible? Last I heard from Siax, she was long gone. Then again, Lord Xemnas did say that he wants us to investigate this world and find a familiar member of the organization? He even went through all the trouble to make an alliance with the Marines. But, how can I be sure that it's her that he wants? Lord Xemnas didn't say who the member is. Still, from our Dusks' reports, it may be possible."

As the figure was talking to himself about the situation, Xion suddenly stopped running. He noticed this and went further into the alley when she turned to his way.

"I'll RTC(Return to the Castle) for now," he muttered. "I hope we meet again, if possible."

* * *

_***XION'S P.O.V***_

"That's strange," I thought out loud. "I could've sworn I felt someone's presence. Must've imagined it." Letting that feeling slide, I continued my search for Zoro. When I was about to continue my search, something exploded several meters from where I am along with some screams. And I was about to run straight to it. Out of caution, I hid in a near-by alley, behind some boxes.

"How pathetic can you get?" came a male voice. "Losing to two pirates."

"Mr. Five! Ms. Valentine!" followed Mr. Eight's voice. And since when did he get here?

"Are you guys kidding or what?" the male, Mr. Five asked.

"Hahaha! This is plain evidence of why our status is higher," an confident female voice laughed.

"Did you come here to just laugh at us?" Mr. Eight asked.

"Well, that too."

"Hahaha! Of course we have a mission as well." Gee, Ms. Valentine is quite giggly, isn't she?

"Heheh... Thanks... Those two wouldn't stand a chance with you guys backing us up!" Mr. Nine exclaimed.

"That's right!" Ms. Wednesday agreed. "Please. Hurry up and take care of them."

"Quit the lame jokes..." Mr. Five said. "You want us to 'back you up'?"

"You think we came all the way to this end of the Grand Line for that?" Ms. Valentine asked.

'_Aren't they allies?_' I wondered, confused of why those two wouldn't provide back-up if they were on the same side.

"What? Then what kind of mission are-" Mr. Nine asked, when Mr. Five interrupted him.

"I think you have an idea. There are criminals here that merit the boss dispatching us directly. The boss' exact words were, 'Someone knows my secret.' Just what that secret is of course, even I don't know. But, our organization's primary directive is 'Secrecy'. Therefore we do not tolerate any kind of investigation into the identity of our members. And if anyone learned anything about the boss' secret, naturally, they would have to be eliminated."

'_All for knowing someone's secret?!_' I mentally asked.

"So, we thoroughly investigated which persons could have found out the boss' secret," Ms. Valentine continued. "And what a surprise! We discovered that important members of a certain Kingdom had infiltrated Baroque Works!"

"A certain kingdom?" I whispered. My eyes then widen when I finally remember who Ms. Wednesday really is as well as her home country.

"A certain kingdom...?" Mr. Nine repeated. "Wa- Wait a minute! I may be wearing a crown, but I'm not a real king! It's just my style!"

'_No one said that it is you,_' I mentally said, sweat-dropping.

"We never meant you!" Ms. Valentine corrected.

"The infiltrator is none other than the Kingdom of Arabasta currently missing..." Mr. Five was about to announce, if Mr. Eight didn't interrupt him by shooting some guns... FROM HIS HAIR!? Or to be exact, the curls.

"You won't lay a finger on the princess!" he yelled. "On my name as Captain of the Arabasta Royal Guards, you won't!"

"Igaram!" Ms. Wednesday cried.

Ahh! If Vivi is a princess, then what have I done?! Oh wait. I didn't do that much damage on her. But I _did_ yell at her and gave her the cold shoulders! AHHH! Then again, I didn't know that she was a princess in the first place.

"Captain of the Arabasta Royal Guards, Igaram," Mr. Five continued. By the sounds of it, he's unaffected by the bullets. Which would mean only one thing... "And Princess Nefertari Vivi. By the order of the Boss of Baruque Works, you are both to be eliminated."

Oh dear. Knowing that the princess is in danger is making me feel tingly. In fact this tingliness is a warning of my bad habit. Guess it can't be helped. I have no choice but to go with it then. Even if it kills me, I'll do whatever I can to protect Princess Vivi.


	5. Protect the Princess and Prevent a Fight

_Last time:_

_"You won't lay a finger on the princess!" he yelled. "On my name as Captain of the Arabasta Royal Guards, you won't!"_

_"Igaram!" Ms. Wednesday cried._

_"Captain of the Arabasta Royal Guards, Igaram," Mr. Five continued. By the sounds of it, he's unaffected by the bullets. Which would mean only one thing... "And Princess Nefertari Vivi. By the order of the Boss of Baruque Works, you are both to be eliminated."_

* * *

Despite the fact that bullets doesn't seem to work on the two newcomers, Mr. Eight, or Igaram, kept shooting out bullets from his curls. "Hurry, Vivi-sama! Escape while you still can!" he told his princess.

"Igaram!" Ms. Wednesday, or Vivi, cried, not moving an inch from her spot.

Through the dust clouds, I can make out one of the figure, most likely Mr. Five since Ms. Valentine has an umbrella, flicking something towards Igaram. When the thing made contact, it ex- EXPLODED!? Either he flicked the world's smallest bomb or he's a devil fruit user because there is nothing, that's so small, that can explode like a bomb! A second later after the bomb exploded, Igaram fell.

"Igaram!" Vivi cried.

"Don't bother," came Ms. Valentine's voice. I looked up and saw her floating. The next thing you know, she suddenly fell and would've kicked the princess' face, if she didn't duck, making the blonde woman hit the hair bead instead. She then landed safely next to her partner.

I was ready to jump in when I heard, "So you were a princess, Ms. Wednesday!" from a certain man.

"Stop being ridiculous, Mr. Nine!" Vivi shouted at her partner/ex-partner, who is bowing down to her, wiggling his butt.

"This night's getting dangerous! You guys have some fun! Later!" came a familiar voice. I turned to the source to see Zoro running off to somewhere with our captain. Wait, how did Luffy get in this situation? And with a ridiculously big stomach, too.

"I'm surprised they actually let him be," I whispered to myself.

"Vivi-sama..." Igaram breathed, signalling the fact that he's alive.

"Igaram! Are you okay?" the princess asked in concern.

"Vivi-sama, don't worry about me... Please hurry up and flee from this place! For the sake of our homeland... Without you, the Arabasta Kingdom will... Now, quickly!"

Now that I think about it, I did remember reading something from the old newspapers in Tanoshi Island about Arabasta's horrible condition. One being the cause of the lack of rain. But seeing the situation before me, I'm starting to doubt it.

"Don't even think about escaping," Mr. Five said. And he is picking his nose because!?

"Don't underestimate me!" Vivi yelled, spinning her Peacock Slashers.

"I can't even begin to understand the circumstances," Mr. Nine spoke, standing between the princess and her enemies with a bat out. "But because of our long relationships as partners, I'll buy you some time. Now go, Ms. Wednesday." Heh. Now that's being loyal, even though they were partners. "I'm a pretty good guy, aren't I? Bye-Bye Baby!" With that good-bye, he backflipped his way over to Five and Valentine to fight them. It's a pain to keep saying Mister and Miss.

"The only thing we should need is the willingness to carry out our missions," Five said, taking a booger out of his nose. And again, why did he pick his nose? In fact, why did he bother taking out a booger? "All this _nakama_ bullshit does is invite death. Now understand this yourself! **Nose Fancy Cannon!**" As he finished calling that attack, he flicked his booger at Nine... only to have it explode!

'_Now I know that he is a devil fruit user,_' I mentally said, as Nine was blown into the sea.

"MR. NINE!" Princess Vivi cried out.

'_All right, bad habit. If I somehow die, I'll be blaming you,_' I thought, as the said habit was crying out, "Come on, already! You have to help her!".

"Carue! Run!" she told her duck, riding on it to get away. Not wasting a second on planning how to beat those two, I quickly climbed up a building and jumped from one to the other to follow the princess, when I just remember about the bullet in my leg.

'_I'll get it out later!_'

* * *

_***MEANWHILE**GENERAL'S P.O.V***_

"Far to the east lies the Kingdom of Arabasta!" Igaram informed Zoro, for he requested him to take his place to take Vivi to Arabasta. "If you bring the princess there safely-*Cough!*-there will most certainly be a handsome reward! I beseech you this one request! Please protect the princess!"

"Quit screwing around!" Zoro objected with shark-like teeth. "You just tried to kill us, remember?! Do you want me to cut you again?!"

"A handsome reward, you say?" a familiar female voice repeated. "I like the sound of that! How about B1,000,000,000?"

"Nami?" Zoro called in a confused tone.

"O-one bill-*Cough*-Ma-ma! Maaah!"

"Weren't you passed out?" the swordsman asked the navigator.

"Hey, now. A suspicious town that throws a party when pirates come by? What kind of idiot gets smashed in a place like that? It was all an act. An act. I can take loads more!" she told him.

"Heh. Good for you."

"Well? Will you offer me the billion belli, Guard Captain? If we don't help you out, you princess will die, right?" Nami asked, an evil smirk on her face.

"I wouldn't say that," Zoro interrupted.

"Why would you say that?"

"I saw Xion earlier before that guy with the crown sacrificed his life for that princess. And we all know what her bad habit is, since she saw the whole thing here."

Screaming a little in realization, Nami hastily ordered Zoro to go after Xion and tell her about the price for helping the princess, the former asking the navigator why he has to go.

"Man, you're so stupid~," she insulted. "The money is my money, but my agreements are your and Xion's agreements."

"Like hell! I might understand Xion, but since WHEN did a brat like YOU become MY boss?!" he irritatedly asked.

"What? All you have to do is deliver the message to Xion and help her beat those guys up."

"I'm not a messanger and I hate being used like this! Why don't you tell her that yourself?!"

"So you're saying that you can't deliver a simple message and you're too weak to beat those guys?"

"What was that, dammit?! Say that again!"

"SO YOU'RE SAYING THAT YOU CAN'T DELIVER A SIMPLE MESSAGE AND YOU'RE TOO WEAK TO BEAT THOSE GUYS?!" Nami repeated, louder than the first.

"I don't mean it literally!" Zoro told her. As they argued, Luffy woke up to do a small business.

"Have you forgotten? You owe me a debt."

"Huh? What debt?"

"Back in Loguetown, you said you wanted to buy some katanas, so I loaned you B100,000."

"But I gave you back that money," he corrected. "I got the katanas for free, so I didn't spend any of it."

"However, when you borrowed it, you promised to pay me back three times the amount. So you still owe me B200,000," Nami corrected.

"But I gave you the same amount of money back right after you gave it to me!"

"Too bad. You can't even keep a single promise, can you?" Hearing those words from the navigator's mouth made the swordsman snapped. "If you do what I say, we can call it even~."

"I hope you die a horrible, horrible death..."

"That's right. I'm going straight to hell." That said, Zoro ran after Xion, Vivi and Mr. Five and Ms. Valentine.

"Such humiliation..." Igaram spoke. "If only I'm stronger, then I could just protect the princess myself..."

"Don't worry," Nami assured. "Zoro's so strong, it's stupid. As for Xion... well... Whenever she hears anyone asking for help or if she sees anyone that wants help, she just rushes in and helps them. No one in our crew knew how long she's been having this habit, exactly or why she has it. Though it's a good thing that she does. Otherwise, your princess wouldn't live through the storm that we went through."

"The princess... If anything happens to Vivi-sama, it will spell the end of Arabasta Kingdom!" Igaram continued, ignoring Nami's words. "She MUST survive!"

* * *

_***BACK TO VIVI AND CO.**XION'S P.O.V***_

I can't believe how fast that duck is! No wait, it can't be called a duck since ducks don't run. Then again, this is the Grand Line, so maybe it is possible. Anyway, I continued to follow Vivi and her killers to find an opening of any kind to stop them from going after her and trying my best to not put any weight in my left leg. However, that part seems to be impossible if I want to run. And since one of them can use his boogers as a bomb, it's taking me a while to form a plan. Not only that, when I looked behind the princess and her duck, I can't seem to find Five and Valentine.

'_That's strange. Where'd they go?_' I wondered. My question was answered by the sound of an explosion. I looked ahead and saw one of the duo in front of Vivi. '_When did he get over there?!_'

"Carue, this way! Hurry!" I heard the girl order her ride, as they ran off at a different direction. I turned to the explosion man and saw that he disappeared.

'_Man! This is a pain in the neck in more ways than one!_'

"Hahaha! I thought someone was following us," came a voice from behind me. I turned to see Valentine smirking at me. "You want to play spy? You have to do better," she said, going for a kick. I blocked the kick with my Keyblade.

"You seem really light," I said.

"Oh? And so what if I am?"

I smirked at the reply as it gave me an idea. "Then fly away! **Aero!**" At that wind spell, Valentine was actually blown away, like a paper.

Seeing that trouble is out of the way, for now, I resumed following Vivi, only to see Monday standing next to her and Carue. Vivi and Carue ran off again, leaving Monday behind. Seeing this made me assume that she's also on the princess' side. Getting myself out of my thoughts, I continued to run after Vivi.

When I heard yet another explosion, I turned back and saw that Five is next to Monday, his right sleeve rolled up. It made me think that it's not just his boogers that can explode.

'_Nine, Monday, I promise not to let either of your sacrifices be in vain,_' I mentally swore.

"I can make any part of my body explode. I'm a Bombman. Using the ability of the Bomu Bomu no mi, I never failed to complete a mission," Five explained.

"Hahaha!" I looked up to the source of a familiar laughing sound and saw Valentine. It made me confused on how she got here so fast when I could've sworn that she was blown away. "With my Kilo Kilo no mi power, that traitor Ms. Monday shall now be crushed into the ground. I can freely change my weight at will. Right now I'm light enough to float with the wind. Now watch as I get heavier."

Hearing that, I decided to get Monday out of there instead or just prevent her from being crushed. I looked up and saw that Valentine is falling fast, which tells me that I have no time to get Monday out of there.

The moment I got to the fallen girl, the weight-changing one is falling too fast for me to use a spell. But that doesn't mean that I can't block it, or does it? Gambling on it, I blocked Valentine with Starlight.

The impact of her unbelievable weight to my Keyblade was insane! If my weapon is a normal one, it would've broke and I could've died! Thankfully it isn't a normal weapon.

As the dust subsided, I was face-to-face with Valentine, using all my strength to push her and my Keyblade away from me to prevent getting crush. Despite that, I can still feel pain. And I don't want to repeat from where. The blonde girl seemed shock to see me between her and her prey, blocking her attempt to crush Monday.

"You're-!" Valentine spoke. "When did-?! How did-?!"

"Hmm? It seems we have another rat to exterminate," Five spoke. "And of what I can see, she can't hold on for a few more seconds."

"Shut up!" I spoke, gritting my teeth.

"Oh? Hahaha! Well, if that's true, I'd like to see how much longer you can hold on. Preventing me from crushing Ms. Monday, that is." That said from her mouth, she stayed on Starlight, watching me suffocate.

"Hey, you! What do you think you're doing?!" I heard Vivi ask. "Why are you protecting me after what I did to you?!"

"Do you think... that I..." I tried to speak, only to have me suffocate more.

"What?!"

"I said... do you really think... that I can just... let a princess DIE?!" I repeated, as a fireball was emerging from the tip of my Keyblade. "**Homing Fira!**" The fireball was shot at a random direction, having Valentine and Five laugh at me.

"What was that? A desperate attempt to stop us?" Five guessed.

"Maybe..." I breathed, earning confused looks from those two. The fireball came back and hit its target: Valentine. And that impact forced the said girl to get off of my weapon.

"Ms. Valentine!" Five called. Not wasting any time, I grabbed Monday and ran to the princess' side.

"I don't have time to fight you!" Vivi shouted, obviously getting the wrong idea.

"I never said that I wanted to fight!" I corrected, coughing out a little blood. "And if anything goes wrong, I'm blaming my bad habit. Now let's hurry and-!"

"You won't get away with this! **NOSE**** FANCY CANNON!**" came Five's voice, as I turned to see a snot coming towards us.

I placed Monday down, attempting to use 'reflect' to block it and prevent getting exploded on, when a familiar figure beat me to it and cut it in half, having it to explode behind us.

"The pathway..." Vivi breathed, looking behind us to see that it is blocked.

"Who is that?" Five asked.

"AH! I just cut a snot!" he shouted.

"Zoro!" I called, relieved that reinforcements came.

"Oh, Xion. There you are."

'_That was a quick recovery,_' I thought when Zoro instantly forgot about the fact that he just cut a booger.

"Look. Nami sent here to tell you that if you help bring the princess back to her home, we will, or should I say she will, be rewarded a billion belli."

"Why can't she tell me that herself?" I asked.

"That's what I said, but no, the witch has to have me do all the dirty work," Zoro added.

"Aren't you the swordsman who cut up all the people of this town?" Five asked. "Why are you suddenly protecting the princess of Arabasta? Well, either way, you're an enemy and you're in my way."

"Hahaha. That's right. An obstacle," came Valentine's voice, as she was getting up.

"Ms. Valentine, are you alright?"

"Yes, Mr. Five."

"Gee, what did you say about nakama?" I asked, recalling that he said having one results death.

"I only care because Mr. 0 expects to have the both of us to return," Five said.

"FOUND YOUUU!" came a familiar voice, from behind Five and Valentine. "ZOOROOOOOO!"

"What now?!" Valentine asked.

"Luffy! If you want to help, we don't need one," Zoro told him. And it's a wonder how his stomach is still so big. "Or do you owe that woman money too?"

'_Is that one of the reason why he did what Nami told him to do?_' I asked myself, having no doubt that he must've borrowed money from our navigator.

"YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH THIS! LET'S ROLL!" Luffy just yelled, bringing me and his 'challenger' to confusion.

"What do you mean, Luffy?" I asked our captain.

"Stay out of this, Xion! Zoro, you ungrateful bastard! I'll kick your ass!"

"Like Xion asked, Luffy. What are you talking about?! Just what do you mean by ungrateful?!" the swordsman asked.

"They threw a nice party for us and you went and sliced up every single one of them!" Oh, the bounty hunters.

"Well... It's true that I did that..."

"I won't forgive you!"

"Is he a complete moron?" Vivi asked.

"In a way... yes, he is," I answered.

"They're namaka? How depressing..." Five spoke.

"Hahaha! Let's just kill them. Like everyone else who interferes with our missions," Valentine suggested.

"Like I'll let you!" I shouted, charging in at them. "Zoro! I'll leave Luffy to you!"

"Say what?!" was the reply I got from him. "That woman... Hey, Luffy. Listen up. Truth is those guys-"

"I DON'T WANT YOUR EXCUSES!" Luffy interrupted, as he jumped, no, leaped over me and my opponents to get to Zoro.

"WHAT?!" I didn't pay attention to anything further than that, for I was then busy taking out Five and Valentine.

"It's a wonder how you can still fight," Five said, as he and Valentine dodged all my attacks.

"What do you mean?!" I asked.

"You think that we didn't notice that bullet in your left leg?" Valentine asked back. My eyes widen as I looked back down to see blood still coming out of my leg.

"Now then... I wonder what would happen if I insert a finger in there," Five spoke.

I was about to say something when I felt something coming from behind me. I jumped out of the way and saw that it was Luffy, who crashed into my opponents.

"Idiot! You almost crashed him into me!" I yelled at Zoro, when I landed.

"You deserve it in the first place!" he yelled back.

It wasn't long until we heard an explosion from the building that Luffy and the other two crashed into. Out from the smoke is Valentine.

"Now you made me mad!" she yelled. "You will now die from my Kilo Kilo power! Hahaha! Prepare yourself! I was able to ride on the explosion because my weight is a mere one kilogram!"

"Man. I can't tell when she'll change her weight," I muttered, knowing that the blowing away plan won't work twice.

"Mr. Bushido! Starlight Blade! Get out of-"

"Shut up!" Zoro interrupted Vivi. "I don't have time for this."

I looked at where he's looking and realized what he meant. Coming out of the smoke is Luffy, whose stomach returned to its original size, and Five, who is beaten up and being dragged by the former.

"Ah. That was good exercise. Finally got rid of all that food," the captain said, patting his stomach. "I can finally get serious."

"Geez, captain. Of all times you choose to be serious," I grumbled. "Anyway just listen, Luffy. This island is full of bounty hunters. In other words our enemies. They-"

"Shut up, Xion! Enemies don't give you food!"

"Just how old are you, thinking that?!"

As soon as I questioned him, I had a feeling like something is going to land on me, having me to side-stepped to the right. As I did so, something crash-landed on the spot that I was on. I looked in the hole and saw that it was Valentine.

'_How was it that I can sense her attack?_' I wondered.

"Now I'm gonna try to kill you!" I heard Zoro yell at our captain. And is he serious?! Did he forget our objective here?! "Don't come crying to me when you wind up dead!"

"Bring it on!" Luffy agreed.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Wait a second! How the hell did it come to this?!" I questioned.

"Starlight Blade is right! Aren't you two nakama?!" the princess agreed. Unfortunately for us, these two boys are going to start their rumble, with me in the middle of it!

"**Gomu Gomu no...**"

"**Oni...**"

"**Bazooka!**"

"**Giri!**"

Reacting fast to prevent them from killing each other, I blocked both sides' attacks; my Keyblade to Zoro's swords and my free arm to both of Luffy's hands.

"Xion! Get out of my way!" they both demanded at the same time.

"I'd rather die than let you two kill each other!" I yelled at them.

"Then die with him!" both responded.

"**Tatsu-!**" Zoro was about to shout his next attack name, when I interrupted him with a spin attack.

"**Aero Blast!**" Thanks to that attack, both sides were blown into a building behind them, since I was wrapped in wind. "God, now they're both out of their mind!"

"Um... Hey..." came the princess' voice. "Are they alright? Can we go across?"

"It'll take more than that to kill them. And unless if you hurry, those two will wake up and-" I stopped mid-sentence when the pain in my leg suddenly became irresistable, getting me onto my knees and clutching it. It hurts so much, it's almost like it's going to be seperated.

The princess and Carue noticed my pain and ran to my aid. "Are you-?!" the princess was suddenly interrupted by a certain duo, who just _had_ to resume fighting. But this time, it's not with each other. IT'S WITH ME!

"DAMN YOU, XION!" they cursed in unison. "I'll handle Zoro/Luffy later! Die!"

"Why am I the target?!" I asked. "But right now, RUN, PRINCESS VIVI!" I yelled, pushing her and the duck out of the way. I saw through their attacks and blocked them, trying to go more easy on my leg.

"Oh. So your weak point is your left leg." What did I do to give that away?!

"We are the Baroque Works agents! You can't make a fool out of us!" came Five's voice.

Being ganged up on like this, I've lost my mind!

* * *

_***VIVI'S P.O.V***_

Seeing the situation that Starlight Blade is in, I can't help but want to help her. But... even so... those two are like monsters! And with Mr. Five and Ms. Valentine, there's no way that I'll stand a chance!

"Will you just KNOCK IT OFF ALREADY!? **GRAVIGA!**" came Starlight Blade's voice. All of a sudden, the straw hat boy, Mr. Bushido, Mr. Five and Ms. Valentine instantly got crushed onto the earth's surface, face-first. I don't know what Starlight Blade did, but it was strong enough to have the four of them make a human-shaped hole. I can even feel Carue trembling at the scary sight. "FOR GOODNESS SAKE! I WOULD UNDERSTAND WHY TWO OF YOU GUYS WANT TO KILL ME, BUT THE OTHER HALF JUST WANTS TO KILL ME FOR PROTECTING YOUR OPPONENTS! ARE YOU ALL CHILDREN OR SOMETHING?! I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT I'M IN A CREW MOSTLY FILLED WITH IDIOTS! No wait! Scratch that! None of you are the idiots! _I'm_ the idiot for joining this crew!" After she said that, those four slowly got up and brethed heavily.

"Xi-on..." straw hat boy and Mr. Bushido growled, and they seemed to be glaring at the girl.

"Don't you 'Xi-on' me! **Gravity!**" Instead of all four this time, only straw hat and Mr. Bushido got back in their human-shaped hole. "As for you two!" Starlight Blade called, having Mr. Five and Ms. Valentine to flinch. Even Carue and I flinched at the tone of her voice. "Get out of my sight! **Tornado Tracer!**"A gust of wind suddenly came and brought the Mr. Five duo to be airborn. "**Wind Sweep!**" While they were in the air, she attacked them with a jumping spin attack and blew Mr. Five and Ms. Valentine away.

I stared at Starlight Blade in awe as Carue just stared in fear. Truthfully, I'm scared of her myself. All of a sudden, she went on her knees.

"Starlight Blade!" I called, having Carue to run to her. "Are you alright?"

"It's just a bullet," she told me.

I didn't know what she meant when she said that, until I remember our fight earlier. "Oh, that's right! The bullet that Igaram gave you! I apologize in his place," I said.

"Don't worry about it," a female voice came. "It'll take more than a bullet to kill her."

"Uh-oh," Starlight muttered. I was confused on why that isn't a good thing. She's another one of her nakama.

"But still... YOU ALMOST COST ME A BILLION BELLI!" All of a sudden, the navigator punched Starlight Blade in the head, having a bump to form and knocked her out. That unbelievable strength had Carue to tremble again.

"But... wait... What are you talking about? Why did you save me?" I asked the navigator.

"Oh right. We need to talk about that. Would you mind negotiating into forming a contract with me?" she asked, getting the straw hat and Mr. Bushido out of their hole, only to have them continue to fight each other, with only fists.

"Contract?"

"Quit struggling!" the navigator scolded, punching both of them in the head, knocking them out as well.

'_If I refused, I might end up like those three,_' I thought. '_Might as well see what the contract is._'


	6. Good-Bye Igaram, Hello Ms All-Sunday

_***XION'S P.O.V***_

"SHIHIHIHI!" I was sleeping peacefully until I heard a certain someone laughing. I slowly opened my eyes and sat up. As I rubbed sleep out of my eyes, I saw Luffy laughing at Zoro for something stupid, without a doubt, and Nami conversing with Vivi.

'_Might be about the reward that Zoro was talking about,_' I thought.

"Oh. You're awake," came the navigator's voice. "Sorry if I hit you too hard."

"Why did you hit me anyway?" I asked.

"YOU TWO, SHUT UP!" Nami shouted at Luffy and Zoro, ignoring my question.

"How's your leg?" Princess Vivi asked me. "We managed to get the bullet out and disinfect the wound."

"I'm fine. Thanks."

"So that's our offer. We want B1,000,000,000 when we escort you there safely. You saw how strong they are, right? Quite a bargain, don't you think?"

"That's impossible!" the princess instantly replied. I would understand why she would say that. "You have my gratitude in saving my life. Thank you."

"Why?! You're a princess, aren't you?" Nami asked. "It's just one measly billion!"

"Looks like you don't know," I muttered, remembering all that I've read about Arabasta before I joined the Straw Hats. I sighed when I saw a confused look on Nami's face. "I don't know the whole story, but Princess Vivi's homeland, Arabasta, is on the verge of war. And because of that, the money is used for weapons. So it may not be possible for her to give us the billion."

"That's right," Vivi agreed. "In recent years, a call for revolution has emerged. The citizens began committing acts of insurrection, causing the land to fall into chaos. But one day, I heard the name of a secret organization: Baroque Works! I discovered that they were responsible for the rebellion. Aside from this, however, I was unable to procure any further information. So I went to Igaram, who had looked after me ever since I was a little girl."

"The chikuwa-haired ossan?" Luffy asked.

"The chiku-? Ah, yes. That's him," Vivi nodded, before continuing her story. "I decided to infiltrate Baroque Works. I thought that if I did, I could find out who was pulling the strings, and what his plans were."

"Pretty gutsy for a princess," Zoro complimented. "So? Did you find out his true intentions?"

"The establishment of an Ideal Nation," Nami answered for the princess, who seemed shock to know that Nami knew of the plan. "Igaram told me earlier. Could it be that...?"

"He claims that establiching this 'Ideal Nation' is their purpose," Vivi explained. "But that is a complete lie! His true intention is to steal the throne of Arabasta! I must hurry back to my country and prevent my people from joining the insurrection! If this continues-"

"We'll help," said my bad habit from my mouth. Those two words were enough to grab everyone's attention to me. "That is, if the captain will allow it. But, just hearing this, I already want to help you stop this war! Not just the war. The Baroque Works as well! Of course, that's if the captain allows it."

"Aren't you the captain?" Princess Vivi questioned.

"Princess. You do realize that we're called the Straw Hat Pirates, right? If I'm a captain, then where is my Straw Hat?" I asked back.

"Hmm... Before that, who's the master mind?" Luffy asked the princess.

"B-boss' true identity?!" she spoke in a shocked tone. "That is the one thing you cannot ask me!"

"But you know who it is, don't you?"

"NO! I can't tell you! If I told you, they'll hunt you down too!"

"Ahahah... Well, we don't want that to happen," Nami spoke. "And of course, trying to take over a whole nation... He must be an incredibly strong guy, right?"

"That's right. It doesn't matter how strong you are, there's no way you could ever hope to touch him! One of the Shichibukai, CROCODILE!"

Cue the moment of silence when she accidentally announced the leader's identity. It was broken when Luffy asked for the identity again, having the princess and Nami to be pale in shock.

"You just said it," Zoro and I said in unison.

'**_She said it, didn't she?_**' came a familiar high, male voice.

'_**Yes, yes she did,**_' came a familiar deep, female voice.

I turned to the source and saw an otter in light blue coat with purple dots and a shell in its paws and a vulture with a hat. "Who're they?" I asked pointing at them. The rest of the crew and Princess Vivi turned to those two animals. A couple seconds later, the otter jumped on the vulture and they flew off.

'_**REPORT!**_' I heard them say as they left.

"HEY! WHAT'S WITH THE OTTER AND THE VULTURE?! ONE OF THE SHICHIBUKAI IS GONNA BE AFTER US NOW! WHAT'RE WE GOING TO DO?!" Nami snapped at the princess with shark-like teeth and crying, the latter apologizing as she was being shook by our navigator and also crying. As for the other two, they were having a small conversation about being targeted by a Shichibukai, in a good way.

"I'll have one of my Dream Eaters go after them," I said, summoning Fang. No one seems to be paying attention to me, though.

"I'm so, so sorry! It just slipped out!" the princess apologized and reasoned.

"'SORRY' WON'T DO US ANY GOOD! NOW YOU'VE GOTTEN US MIXED UP IN ALL THIS!" Letting go of Princess Vivi, Nami began sobbing a bit. "We just made it to the Grand Line and I'm marked for death by one of the Shichibukai..."

"I just said that I have one of my Dream Eaters go after those two animals," I told Nami, trying to cheer her up.

"We're pretty lucky that we get to fight one so soon," Zoro said. And of course he would think that. I wouldn't be surprise if Luffy agrees with him or say something like 'I wonder how strong he is'.

"Wonder what he's like," came the voice of the said person.

"SHUT UP YOU TWO!" Nami snapped again, pointing at those two guys. "Though it wasn't for long, it was nice knowing you all!" she then said, walking away from us.

"Where're you going?" Luffy asked.

"They don't know my face yet, so I'm outta here!"

'_**Eyes like this,**_' came the otter's voice, as I walked and saw the said animal drawing with the vulture right next to it. He then took out four drawings. Each of those drawings are a picture of us.

"Wow! You're good!" Nami complimented, clapping. It wasn't long until Fang snatched a drawing out of the animal's paws and having it ride on the vulture's back again, leaving for real this time. "NO! NOW I CAN'T EVEN RUN AWAY!?"

"I'm so sorry..." Vivi apologized once more.

"That guy's pretty cool," Luffy complimented the otter.

"Where are you planning on going anyway?" Zoro asked. "In any case, the four of us have been added to the Baroque Works Death List!"

"Shihihihi! This is so exciting!" Luffy laughed.

"Actually, one of us is safe," I spoke up, as Fang perched on my shoulder with one of the otter's drawing's in it's mouth.

"Really?! Who is it?! Please say it's me!" Nami questioned and begged.

I got the drawing out of Fang's mouth and looked at the drawing. The person who is safe is... "Uh... Sorry, Nami," I apologized, revealing the picture to her. "I'm the one who's safe." That result got her to sit with her legs close to her chest, facing a wall. Arabasta's princess was behind the poor navigator, trying to cheer her up by telling her the amount of savings she's willing to give her.

"DO NOT WORRY!" came Igaram's voice. We all turned to see that he's wearing clothes similiar to Vivi's and have his hair up in a ponytail, as well as holding four dummies. The sight of that made my eyes burn, I had to look away. "Fear- Ahem! Mah-mah-maaah~! Fear not, for I have a plan!"

"Igaram! What are those clothes for?" the princess asked.

"Shihihi! Ossan! You'll fool anyone wearing that!" Luffy stated.

'_Yeah. If they are as simple-minded as you are,_' I thought.

"Oh my god. I'm mostly surrounded by idiots," I heard Nami say. When she said mostly, I can't help but sweatdrop at how much she relies on me.

"Vivi-sama, please listen carefully," Igaram spoke. "Baroque Works' Network will soon recieve the report. Once they learn we are the ones that knows the Boss' true identity, you understand what will happen, don't you?"

"As many as a thousand hunters could soon be coming after us," Vivi replied. Nami perked her head up when she heard the number of hunters coming for us.

"That is why I have dressed in the manner of a princess. I will depart with these four dummies and travel on a straight course to Arabasta."

"These are us?" Luffy asked, poking on one of the dummies.

"Decoys," Igaram explained. "Once they have begun pursuing me, Vivi-sama and yourselves can depart safely to Arabasta."

"NOW WAIT JUST A MINUTE!" Nami yelled. "Who said that we're taking the princess anywhere?! We still don't have a contract."

"Xion did," Luffy and Zoro answered, pointing at me.

"THAT WAS HER BAD HABIT TALKING! IT'S NOT THE PERSON HERSELF!" she denied. "BESIDES, CROCODILE IS GOING TO KILL US!"

"This Crocodile... Is he really that strong?" Luffy asked.

"I heard about him," I said. "And since he's a Shichibukai, it's more than enough reason that he's strong. I also read some stuff about him. His last bounty, before being a Shichibukai, is about B80,000,000."

"80 MILLION?! THAT'S FOUR TIMES ARLONG'S! TURN IT DOWN!" the navigator begged, crying again.

"Will you accept it?" Igaram asked Luffy.

"Yeah. Xion's bad habit is already acting up anyway. So it can't be helped," replied the captain.

"You have my upmost gratitude."

* * *

Some time later, we were at the other side of Whiskey Peak. Igaram was acting like Vivi, though it's not like it's going to help with anything, and announced that he will be leaving for Arabasta.

"Ossan! You're just like her!" Luffy stated.

"Like who?" Zoro and I asked.

"Now then Princess, please hand me the Eternal Pose," Igaram kindly demanded. Vivi hesitatedly handed him the wanted item.

"Eternal Pose?" Nami questioned. "Xion, what are those?"

"I never heard of one until now," I told her.

"You never heard of one? I'll try to explain. It is an eternally preserved version of a Log Pose. A Log Pose guides you from one island to the next. But an Eternal Pose never forgets of the magnetic field of the one island it is set to. It shall eternally point to that island. And this one points the way to Arabasta," Igaram informed.

"And with that you can get to Arabasta," Vivi added.

"Vivi-sama, after making a few stops, please hurry to Arabasta. I have never done it myself, but I am certain you can follow the Log two or three times to get there. And with that, I leave the princess in your care."

"Leave it to us," I said, saluting to Igaram. Well, since he's the captain of the Royal Guards of Arabasta, I have to show some respect to him, too.

"There's no need for you to do that," I heard him say.

"Igaram," Vivi called. I turned to see if she had a problem with this situation and saw that she's against this.

"I'm sure that the journey is dangerous, so please be careful," he told her.

"Iga-" the princess cut herself off, knowing that this is for the best. With her mind made up, she held Igaram's hand for a moment and wished him luck as well. At that point, he got on the ship with the four dummies and left for Arabasta.

It wasn't long, however, as we saw the ship blew up several seconds later.

'_Already?!_' I mentally asked. '_No that can't be!_'

"He was a great man!" Luffy shouted, after retrieving his hat, when it was blown away by the explosion.

"Nami! The Log!" I shouted.

Nami got the message and looked at the compass. "It's already set!"

"Luffy, get Usopp and Sanji! Zoro, you come with me back to the ship! Nami, get Princess Vivi! Meet Zoro and I back on the Going Merry!" I ordered.

"Right!" they all replied.

* * *

When Zoro and I got to the ship, we were greeted by Princess Vivi's duck. '_**Hi there!**_' he greeted.

"Uh... Hi?" I greeted back. I snapped back to reality when I remember the matter at hand. "Zoro, help me pull up the anchor!"

"Got it!" he agreed, as we pulled up the said object and hanged it on the railing.

"Oi! I got them!" Luffy shouted.

"Okay! Then get on! We're leaving as soon as Nami and the princess gets on!" I informed.

"Okay!" Luffy then looked back and saw that Usopp and Sanji are knocked out. "Eh? You guys are still sleeping?"

'_They got knocked out, idiot,_' I mentally corrected.

"We don't have time to get him!" came Nami's voice.

"But I can't leave without him!" followed Vivi's voice.

"What's wrong?!" I asked them.

"She says that her spot-billed duck is missing!" Nami informed. "She said it usually comes when she whistles, but it won't come!"

"You mean him?" Zoro asked, pointing and bringing up the said animal.

'**_Yo!_**' waved the duck.

"YOU WERE THERE THIS WHOLE TIME?!" the two girls asked.

"He was already on board when we got on," I told them.

"If we sail up the river, it'll branch off into the sea. And we'll be able to get on course faster," Vivi said.

"Alright, LET'S GO!" Luffy ordered, as the sails were unfurled.

"Oi!" Zoro called for Princess Vivi. "Just how many are coming after us, exactly?"

"I don't know," she replied. "Baroque Works has about 2000 employees. And I heard there are other towns like this one in the area."

"Really, 2000?" Nami questioned. The moment she asked that, Sanji and Usopp woke up. Seeing that they were back on the ship and that it was sailing off this island made them demand for us all to stay longer. They even asked why we were leaving and if we ever come across an island like this one. Hearing it all made me sigh in pity.

"Someone should explain it to them," I said.

"Oi! Explain it to the already," Zoro ordered Nami.

"I already did," she told him.

"That was fast," I stated.

"I skipped all the boring parts."

"We're about to clear the island," Vivi said.

"Cool! Fog!" Luffy spoke, as though this is his first time seeing it.

"It'll be morning soon," Nami said.

"Well, it's a good thing you got away from your pursuers," came a soft melodic voice. For some reason, it sounded familiar.

"It sure is," our navigator agreed.

"Watch out for the shallows so that you don't strike the hull."

"You can count on me!" A moment later, realizing that the voice belonged to no one that we know of, Nami asked, "Xion, was that you just now?"

"No," I simply replied.

"... Nice ship." We all turned to the voice and saw a woman in western clothings. In fact, one look at that woman, and I already remember who she is.

"Who's there?!" Zoro asked.

"Y-you're-!" Vivi stuttered.

"Ms. All-Sunday!" I identified.

"My, my. What a surprise. I didn't expect to see you here, Xion," she said.

"Xion, you know her?" Nami asked.

"Yeah. She was the person who tried to recruit me to the Baroque Works. After I kindly refused the offer, she tried to take me in by force. I was lucky that I had Lapin at the time or Tanoshi Island won't be how it was when you guys recruited me. After that, she promised to leave and never try to recruit me again."

"I also said that the offer is still open if you change your mind," Ms. All-sunday added. "And if I must say, those clothes look cool on you, if there aren't any blood on them that is. Also, I wanted to see how you got your title there. However..." Suddenly, four arms sprouted from my back and shoulders and two of them wrapped my hands and arms behind my back while the other two placed me in a chokehold. "... thanks to that, I know that you need your arms to weild your weapon."

"Xion!" I heard my crewmates scream.

"A devil's fruit?!" Nami guessed.

"I saw Mr. Eight not too long ago, Ms. Wednesday," Ms. All-Sunday told our guest.

"You killed Igaram!" she yelled.

"Even if you did, why the hell are you on my ship?! And let go of my nakama!" Luffy demanded.

"Just what exactly are you doing here, Ms. All-Sunday?!"

"I have to agree with Princess Vivi," I spoke. "Why is Crocodile's partner here? Surely he doesn't want to have his partner to kill us, yet."

"She's Crocodile's partner?!" Nami gasped.

"So she's a bad guy?" Luffy assumed.

"Out of all the members in the Baroque Works, she is the only one who is allowed to know the Boss' true identity. Igaram and I shadowed her to know who he really is," Vivi explained.

"Or to be more precise, I _let_ you shadow me," Ms. All-Sunday corrected.

"Oh, she's a good guy," Luffy corrected himself.

"I knew that!" Vivi yelled. "And the one who informed the boss of his exposed identity was you, wasn't it?!"

"Correct."

"So she _is_ a bad guy," Luffy recorrected himself, pouting.

"Just stay out of it," Zoro told the captain.

"Just what exactly are your intentions?!" Vivi demanded.

"Who knows? But you were so serious about it, I just had to cooperate," Ms. All-Sunday replied. "A princess who actually thinks she can make enemies of Baroque Works and save her country. It's just so ridiculous..."

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" the moment Vivi screamed those words, Sanji and Usopp stood next to Robin, pointing a pistol or a slighshot at her, ready to shoot. Then Zoro and Nami got ready to fight her.

"Oi. Sanji. Any idea what's going on?" Usopp asked.

"Nope. No idea," our cook replied. "But, it seems the lovely Ms. Wednesday and our beloved Xion is in danger."

'_Who are you calling beloved?_' I mentally asked.

"Would you mind not pointing such dangerous things at me?" Ms. All-Sunday asked, using her devil fruit powers to throw those two over the railing that she's sitting on. She then used in to have Zoro and Nami to let go of their weapons.

"A devil's fruit, huh?" Sanji identified, getting up. "WHOA! Looking from down here, she's a beautiful lady!" Oh, dear. Of course he would go to that mode.

"Really don't be in such a rush," Ms. All-Sunday said. "I'm not under any orders at the moment. So I have no reason to fight you."

"If that's true, then how about you let go of me?" I questioned.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, since you weild the power that can most likely destroy the world." Those words got everyone to tense up for a moment.

"What are you talking about?"

"You weild the Keyblade. So who knows how you're going to use that power?"

"Please. You're making it sound like I'm pretending to be me."

"Well... I could be wrong. But I rather not take any chance. Still, I never thought you would join the infamous Straw Hat captain." Just when she said that, Luffy's hat was flung to her hand, as she twirled it.

"Oi! Give me back my hat!" Luffy demanded like a child. "You wanna fight!?"

"You're not wanted here so get off our ship, jerk!" Usopp exclaimed, from behind the mast.

"What bad luck," Robin continued, as she placed Luffy's hat on top of her's. "You pirates picking up a princess that Baroque Works wants dead. And that princess being protected by such a small number of pirates. But your worst luck of all is the route that your Log Pose is leading you on. The name of the next island is... Little Garden."

"Look, Ms. All Sunday, I don't know where you're going at, but I would thank you kindly if you would please release me," I told her. "After all, this is getting really uncomfortable."

"Oh? And what makes you think that I'll just release you?" she asked back.

"... Who said that I want you to do so willingly?" The moment I asked that question, everyone looked at me with a confused look. Just when they did, Fang swoop down and screeched in Ms. All-Sunday's ear, forcing her to release me and lose her concentration. Taking this chance, I dashed up to her with Starlight in my hand. When I saw those pink flower petals though, I saw an image of a guy with pink hair and a scythe. Ignoring that image, I stopped next to her with the tip of my weapon at her throat.

"Choose your next move carefully... That next move may cost your life," I said. "Thanks, Fang. You saved me."

"But how was that possible?" Ms. All-Sunday asked me. "Last time I remember, you have to summon Dream Eaters from their card."

"That's true, if I returned it in its card," I agreed and added. "Now then, you were saying?"

"... There's an Eternal Pose in my left pocket," she told me, hesitated to make a move. "It will help you avoid Little Garden. It will lead you to Nanimonai Island, just near Arabasta. And since none of our members know of this route, you will not be followed."

I had Fang take out the said compass and hand it to me, only to see that she spoke the truth. I ordered my Dream Eater to hand it to the captain as well as his straw hat. "You're choice, Luffy. You wanna take her offer?"

"Wait. She's helping us out?" Nami questioned.

"Why are you doing this?" the princess cautiously asked.

"It's obviously a trap," Zoro said.

After a few moments, Luffy made up his mind. "Who the hell gives a crap!?" As soon as he asked that, he broke the Eternal Pose.

"BAKA!" Nami shouted, kicking our captain. "ARE YOU A COMPLETE DIMWIT?! SHE JUST TOLD US THE BEST WAY TO GO! WHAT IF SHE WAS TRYING TO HELP US?! WHAT THEN?!"

"You don't decide the route for this ship!" Luffy told Ms. All-Sunday, ignoring Nami's rant at him.

After a moment of silence, all Ms. All-Sunday said was, "Oh. How unfortunate."

"She blew up that chikuwa-ossan. I hate her."

"Well, then Luffy. What do you want me to do with her? Chop her head off? Burn her? Electricute her? Freeze her? Blow her away so she can sink somewhere in this ocean? Just name it," I offered the captain. "Although, I prefer none of the above."

"Xion?" some of my crewmates spoke in a confuse tone.

"Just let her be, then. If you don't really want to kill her," Luffy answered, waving his hand.

Smiling at the reply, I called back my Keyblade. Ms. All-Sunday then made her leave, cautiously looking at me.

"Well, if you survive, let's meet again," she said.

"NO!" the captain instantly replied like a child.

Smirking, Ms. All-Sunday said, "Xion, the offer is still open." With that, she jumped off the ship. I ran to the railing, thanks to my bad habit, when I then heard her say, "Let's go, Banchi."

I then became curious and ran to the side to see Ms. All-Sunday riding on a huge turtle. All of us Straw Hats saw this and were slightly amazed, mostly by the size of that turtle. We then looked at Vivi, who seems very uneasy about all of this.

"That woman...! I just can't figure out what she's thinking!" the princess exclaimed, when she dropped to her knees.

"Then trying to understand is a waste of time," Nami said.

"Yeah, we got people like that on our ship," Zoro agreed.

"Oi! Can someone please explain all of this?!" Usopp asked. "I have no idea what's going on!"

"Oh~! Ms. Wednesday, are you one of our nakama now?" Sanji asked in his loverboy mode.

"Oi! Will someone explain-?! WHOA! We have an ostrich now?!"

'_**I'm not an ostrich, long-nose!**_' came Carue's voice.

"Oi. Can someone explain?"

"Would you like something to eat?" Sanji offered.

'_**I would.**_'

"SOMEONE EXPLAIN ALL THIS!" our sniper demanded.

* * *

_***AN EXPLANATION LATER***_

"I see," Sanji spoke, after explaining to him and Usopp what's been going on while they were asleep. "I've done something inexcusable, but I still have yet to show my abilities. It's all right. Your sleeping knight has awaken and I will make it my duty to ensure your safety," he promised the princess.

"Damn... I'm glad I was asleep!" Usopp muttered to himself.

Paying no attention to whatever will happen next, I went to the lower deck to train with my Dream Eaters. I've been slacking since I joined this crew and I don't want to get weaker as we sail the Grand Line.

"**Summon: Majik Lapin, Ryu Dragon, Fin Fatale! **All right, guys. Let's get on with our training," I ordered. My mind was suddenly on that image that I saw earlier when I looked at those pink petals.

'_What was that image?_' I asked myself. '_Or to be more precise, who was that? And as for Ms. All-Sunday, I can already tell what you're trying to do, telling us all that and offering us that Eternal Pose. Nico Robin, what exactly happened to you?_'

* * *

_***GENERAL'S P.O.V***_

"What is Xion doing?" Vivi asked.

"She's just training with her Dream Eaters," Zoro replied.

"And you don't mind if she does?"

"As long as she doesn't break this ship, we don't," Usopp said.

"I mean what Ms. All-Sunday said earlier," the princess of Arabasta corrected. "What if she's right and Xion could kill us?!"

"She won't," all the Straw Hat Pirates, except the person in question, replied.

"And how would you know?"

"Well, you see, Xion lost her memories six months ago. So another reason why we're here in the Grand Line is so we can help her regain those memories. Also, Xion was considered a hero back on the island where we got her. She was also an idol to all the kids living on that island. And a person like that, can't be planning on killing her own nakama," Nami explained.

"... I see," Vivi replied, watching Xion train. "But I wonder... Is it really alright for me to be on your ship? I don't want to be a burden to you..."

"What are you talking about?" Nami asked back. "Because of you we're all marked for death. If you didn't want to be a burden, you shouldn't have done that in the first place."

"I'm sorry."

"And even if you didn't, Xion is going to help you out anyway. With her bad habit, she's too reliable. Right, Luffy?"

"OH! I'm hungry!" the said person announced.

"I don't think he cares..." Vivi muttered, sweatdropping.

"In any case, we know where we're going," Zoro said.

"Little Garden, huh?" Sanji spoke.

"Oi. Is it really alright to go there?" Usopp asked.

"Who cares? Let's go, crew!" Luffy ordered.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you like this chapter. Partial credit goes to my new Beta Reader, or soon-to-be Beta Reader, EvanderAdvent.**

**Oh yes. Also, do you want Xion to recieve Tyranto Rex or Cera Terror in Little Garden and what challenge do you want it to be? If you want Xion to recieve both of them, that's fine too. Until the next chapter, folks.**


	7. Arriving Not-so Little Garden

It was a beautiful day out. Everyone was doing their usual business. I decided to have a little conversation and training with Voice, so I sat down with Starlight on my lap and concentrated on going back to my Dive to the Heart, or so Voice called it.

"Voice! You there?!" I asked.

"**Yes**," he replied, as a light of some sort floated down towards me.

"Voice? Is that you?"

"**Sort of. This is just a part of me, though. I still can't go into the world of the living, as I thought. I can't even see you in person here.**"

"Well, as long as you're here, that's all that matters," I assured him.

"**Heh. I guess. So then, what do you want? I doubt you came here just to talk,**" he asked, getting straight to the point.

"You're half-right. I do want to talk to you for a short while. And I want to do some training here, too. I'm starting to run out of my training supplies, so I want to train here."

"**Aren't you busy? All right, then. Let's train.**" Voice got brighter and many plant-like Heartless came out of the ground. "**Since your next destination is a jungle, it's best if I have you fight against Heartless best suited for that area. The small blue plant with yellow and orange petals are known as Creeper Plants. It got its name due to the fact that it can stab you with a small root that will shoot out of the ground. The green plant with pink petals are Dire Plants. They're easy to beat. You just need to block their attacks, and they would be easily destroyed. The black plant with orange petals and red edges are Fire Plants. Use ice spells and attacks on them. The blue plants with white petals are Blizzard Plants. I suppose you know what kind of magic and attacks are used to easily defeat them. And last but not least, Poison Plants. They're a bit more challenging compared to the other plants. However, like Blizzard Plants, they are extremely vulnerable to fire spells and attacks. They all have one thing in common: they can shoot out seed attacks. Good luck, Xion.**"

That said, Voice just disappeared, leaving me to fight against the plants. I got out my Keyblade and got ready to fight.

* * *

_***MEANWHILE, WITH THE REST OF THE STRAW HAT CREW**GENERAL'S P.O.V***_

While Xion is in her Dive to the Heart, the rest of her crew just got away from almost being fish food.

"Hey! Has anyone seen Xion?!" Nami asked.

"The last time I saw her was at the back of the ship," Zoro answered.

"Now that you mentioned it, isn't it a bit too quiet?" Usopp questioned. "Shouldn't we be hearing her scream and shout while she's training in the back?" That question got everyone off guard. They put whatever they were going to do on hold and check the back of Going Merry, only to see the person in question meditating.

"What? She's just meditating," Vivi sighed.

"Even so, she could've helped us when we were going to be eaten by that dolphin," Nami said.

"Hey, Xion. What are you doing? Meditating here? Didn't you notice that we were being chased by a huge dolphin?" Usopp asked. They receive no answer from the raven-haired girl.

"Xion-san?" Sanji called.

"Oi. Are you all right?" Luffy questioned.

"She must've fallen asleep, considering that she isn't answering to any of us," Zoro guessed. "Now that I think about it, she deserve it more than any of us right now."

When he said that, it gave Usopp a devious idea. He then took out a marker out of nowhere.

"What are you doing, Usopp?" the navigator asked the sniper.

"Teaching her a lesson on what happens if they take a nap while we were doing all the work, even though I should've done this earlier when someone was asleep while we were in that crazy storm," he answered, glaring at Zoro when he said the last part. When he was about to draw on Xion's face, however, she suddenly took her Keyblade and cut the marker and pointed the tip of her weapon at Usopp, in a threatening way.

This scene surprised everyone, making them all think that Ms. All-Sunday was right about Xion, until she went back to meditating, with her Keyblade on her lap again.

"What was that about, Xion?!" Usopp questioned, irritated about the fact that he was almost killed by his own nakama.

"Ah~! Xion-swan is so lovely when she threatens that long-nose~!" Sanji complimented.

"_You_ shut up!"

"Hey Xion! What do you think you're doing?!" Luffy asked, placing a hand on his crewmate's shoulder, only to then get thrown to the other side of the ship by her. "Hey! That would've hurt me!"

"Wait a second, Luffy-san!" Vivi spoke. She walked in front of Xion and looked at her in the eyes. The princess of Arabasta lightly touched Xion and gasped in surprise.

"What's wrong, Vivi?" Nami asked.

"H-... Her skin... It's cold!" she told them.

"Cold?!" the Straw Hat Pirates repeated.

"A ZOMBIE! XION TURNED INTO A ZOMBIE!" Usopp panicked.

"Just because someone's body is cold doesn't really mean that they're dead," a voice said.

"Who's there?!" Zoro demanded, getting ready to unsheath his swords.

"And because of that and their body is moving on its own, doesn't really make them a zombie," he continued. Everyone looked at Xion's lifeless body and saw that she is looking at them. "Hello again."

"AHHHH! ZOMBIE!" most of them screamed.

"Calm down," Xion, with a guy's voice, said.

"How can we?!"

"J-j-j-just who are you and what did you do to our nakama?!" the sniper demanded.

"Relax. Your nakama is safe. She's just training. I'm only here to look after her body," he explained.

"How are we suppose to believe that?!" they all asked.

"Hmm. How indeed? Well, I suppose that's for you to decide. However, believe me; Xion is training with some Heartless I've created." The moment he said that, Xion's body suddenly fell face-first. "I seem to have forgotten to warn her about that," the male voice said, as Xion's body went back to meditating. Xion's left elbow then turned to ice. "And that."

"Just what are you doing to our nakama?!" they all asked, teeth being shark-like, as a few of them tried to defrost Xion's elbow.

"Bring her back!" Sanji demanded.

"How? She was the one who entered her Dive to the Heart. And she was also the one who wanted me to help her train. Until she completed her training, she can't come back to this world with you guys. I hope you realize that any damage that will be done to her body by any of you, combine with the damage she will take from the Heartless I created, will affect her coming back here."

"What do you mean?" Vivi questioned.

"So demanding, this crew," the male voice stated. "Think of it this way, what does humans need in order to stay in this world?" That question got everyone to widen their eyes in realization.

"That's right. They need a body. If anything happens to Xion's body while she's training, she might never come back here. That's the exact reason why I'm here, to make sure nothing happens to it."

"That's nice to know, but she could've told us about this!" Nami argued.

"Are any of you a doctor? If not, that's the reason why she didn't tell any of you. None of you are professional doctors who can take care of her injuries as she trains in her Dive to the Heart. The only reason why she's taking minor injuries is because she's very skilled. If I know any better, she should be your captain instead of the rubber idiot."

"Hey!" Luffy shouted, taking offense of that statement.

"Well it is true. Otherwise, your bounty should've been higher than the girl's."

"I will surpass Xion! Just you wait!"

"Hmph. Oh can you? I highly doubt that it's possible, especially with the gap of power between you two," he doubted.

"Oh really?! Then let's fight! Right now!" Luffy demanded.

"Idiot! Did you forget what he said about what ever happens to Xion's body while she's training somewhere else?!" Nami and Usopp questioned, kicking him in the head.

"You seem to have forgotten what happened back in Whiskey Peak, baka."

"You were there?" Zoro asked, knowing what he meant.

"I was always there. Wherever Xion is, I'm there. Whatever she hears, I hear. Whatever she sees, I see. You can say that I'm just a spirit that Xion picked up. Anyway, rubberman, if you are stronger than Xion, than tell me: how is she able to stop you and Zoro?"

"Well... She just caught me off-guard!" Luffy said.

"Oh? Sorry. I got to go," the voice said.

"Hey! Wait!" the rubberman shouted, about to grab Xion's body if not for his crewmates.

"Restrain yourself!" they ordered the captain.

* * *

_***BACK IN THE DIVE TO THE HEART**XION'S P.O.V***_

I finally managed to beat those plants. How I wish Voice would tell me more about those things! Like the fact that the seeds they shoot out are on fire, can freeze you, or poison you!

"I see that you're done," Voice said, appearing before me.

"Yeah. And it's a miracle how I'm alive," I added. "You could've told me a little more?"

"What's the point in this training then?"

"Touche. Well, I gotta go. Thanks for helping me train."

"Your welcome." With that, I went back to my body.

* * *

_***WITH THE OTHERS**GENERAL'S P.O.V***_

"What should we do?" Vivi asked.

"Xion might not be happy if she finds out about this," Nami spoke.

"Yeah? Well what about the rest of us?" Usopp asked. "None of us are doctors, but that doesn't mean none of us knows nothing about medicine."

"Well then, what are we going to do?" Sanji asked.

"We keep this a secret," Luffy decided, getting everyone's attention. "She doesn't want to worry any of us, does she? So we just keep quiet about this." Everyone nodded in agreement with the idea.

"Oi! Xion's waking up!" Zoro informed.

Everyone immediately went back to their usual business, as the said girl was regaining conscious.

* * *

_***XION'S P.O.V***_

I woke up and stretched my arms. I then looked at my right elbow and saw that the frostbite I got from that Blizzard Plant was already treated. I doubted that it was Voice, since I don't remember having a handkerchief on me. So it made me thought that it was my nakama.

'_Guess they found out,_' I thought. '_I should've give them a chance after all. Even though none of them are doctors, they should know at least a little about medicine and how to treat wounds._'

'_**H-... Help us...**_' came a Dream Eater's voice. Wait. Did it just say us?

'_**Keyblade's Chosen... Help us...**_' came another Dream Eater's voice.

'_Don't worry. I will come and help you,_' I mentally promised, as I walked up to the front of Merry to see how close we were to the island.

"Oh? Hey, Xion!" I heard Luffy call me.

"Hey, Luffy."

"Hey, Xion. Were you working on a new ice spell behind our back?" Usopp asked. Obviously they don't want me to know.

"Yeah. And it doesn't seem to be working, but I'll get it done somehow. By the way, how close are we to Little Garden?"

"It's right up ahead," Nami replied.

'_**Please... Help us...**_' the two Dream Eaters begged.

'_I'll be there. Don't worry._'

When we got to the island, everything doesn't seem to match the island's name.

"So this is Little Garden," Luffy spoke.

"What the hell do they mean by 'little'?" Zoro questioned.

"It doesn't look nearly as cute as its name," Nami stated.

"And it seems more like a jungle than a garden," I added.

"This is, an unexplored territory. An untamed jungle!" Usopp panicked.

My mind then went back to Ms. All-Sunday's warning. It bothers me a lot. I wondered why she would tell us that. I hope I can solve this puzzle as we get to Arabasta.

"D-d-does that mean that there are monsters here?!" Usopp asked.

"Who knows?" Luffy asked back.

'_If there are, Ms. All-Sunday should know how strong we really are. I somehow doubt that this island is the problem,_' I mentally added to myself. '_Can it be this island's magnetic field? There's a 50-50 chance that it's the magnetic field of this island that Ms. All-Sunday was talking about. We'll find out as we go along with this route._'

"I see a river mouth up ahead," Zoro informed. We all went to one side of the ship to see the river mouth, so we can stop our ship there.

"I hope there's a yakiniku shop here~!" our simple-minded idiot said.

"What makes you think that there is one?" I questioned.

"Didn't Sanji said that we needed provisions?"

"I meant we need to get ingredients!" he corrected the rubberman.

"And even if there is a shop here, tell me now. Where on an island like this would you find a shop that sells meat?" I questioned.

"But you know, landing here would be dangerous," Nami spoke. "I mean, look at those plants. They aren't in any botany books that I've read."

Just then, we all heard a bird of some sort. No wait, scratch that. Birds don't caw loud enough to scare Nami and Usopp.

"Cute~" Oh dear. Does he have to go gaga mode at a time like this?

"You mean me?" our long-nose crewmate asked.

"I WAS TALKING ABOUT NAMI-SAN!"

"What was _that_?" the said navigator asked.

"Don't worry. It's just a little old bird. And this is just your normal jungle. Nothing to worry about," Sanji confidentially said. Well, they say having too much confidence can lead you to trouble, for a BIG bird is heading right for Sanji. Although I truly believe that he deserve it more than anything, my stupid bad habit kicked in and had me save him, only to then carry me off.

"AH! XION!" I heard my nakama called.

"**Summon: Ryu Dragon!**" I said. "Teach this oversize bird a lesson!" At that order, Wyvern burned my captor and saved me, carrying me back to the ship. "Gee, Sanji. What did you say about this jungle?" I sarcastically asked. "If it's a normal jungle with little old birds, THEN WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT THING THAT CARRIED ME OFF?! Idiot! Can't believe I joined this crew."

As soon as I said that, we heard something explode. "That doesn't sound like something you hear in a normal jungle," Nami stated.

"That sounded like a volcano erupted!" Usopp cried.

'_**History...**_' came one of the Dream Eater's voice.

'**_Way back in time... No humans..._**' came the other Dream Eater's voice.

"No humans?" I softly repeated. I then saw something from the corner of my eye. "Oi! Something's over there!"

Everyone else looked at what I saw. The figure stepped into the light and revealed itself to be a huge tiger.

"A tiger?" our navigator gasped.

"It's huge," the sniper stated.

All of a sudden, the tiger collapsed, blood coming out of its side.

"What?! What just happened! It's not normal. This is definitely not normal!" Nami stated. "How can a tiger, the King of the Jungle, collapse in its own blood?!"

"Tigers are known to be queens though," I corrected.

"That's not the point!" Usopp shouted. "It's decided that we shouldn't land on this island!"

"We'll just sit on the ship and wait for the Log to set, then we hurry up and get out of here." our navigator agreed. "We do have to hurry to Arabasta after all."

Even with that plan said, we landed on this island anyway. I went to the girl's bedroom to get my bag of ingredients and put some more of them in my pocket. "I'll never know what kind of ingredients are needed to create them. All of this should be enough." I got out of my room to see Luffy, Princess Vivi and Carue ready for adventure. Not that it's surprising for the captain of ours, but why is the princess going as well? To know the thrill of being a pirate? Oh well. It doesn't concern me, as long as Luffy protects her.

"She got guts. Ms. Wednesday," Usopp stated.

"What would you expect from someone who infiltrated a criminal organization?" Nami asked.

"Well, I got some time to kill, so I'll just go for a walk," Zoro spoke.

"A WALK?!" the long-nose sniper of ours repeated, as the swordsman jumped off of the ship.

"Oi! Zoro! Wait!" Sanji called. "We're out of food. If you see something that looks edible, bring it here."

"Right, got it," he replied. "I'll go hunt something you couldn't possibly handle yourself."

"HOLD IT!" Sanji called again. "I heard that. Bastard, you think you can bring something bigger than I could?"

"Damn straight." Oh boy. I can already feel rivalry going on between them.

"A Hunting Contest," Sanji declared, jumping down. "Listen up. The winner's the one who brings back more kilos of meat."

"Don't you mean tons?" Zoro corrected

"Save your bragging for when we line up what's edible."

"My thoughts exactly." With that said, those two went separate ways and began their little contest.

"Men. Especially those that brags about their strength," I sighed, getting ready to take my leave as well. When I was about to jump, however, something held my legs and had me slammed my face on the railing. I turned to see who it was, only to see Nami and Usopp, both clinging onto my legs as streams of tears ran down their cheeks with frightened expressions.

"Please Xion-sama. Don't go," Nami begged.

"You're our only hope here! Please! Xion-sama! Don't go~!" Usopp cried. Did I ever mention how much I hate my bad habit? Or at least the people who caused it to go off?

"All right, I'll stay. Only until someone comes back," I said, receiving hugs from Nami and Usopp. '_This feels awkward,_' I thought. Putting my bag down, I instantly went right to training.

"By the way, Xion, what's in that bag of yours?" Usopp asked.

"There are two Dream Eater recipes here that I'm unable to get due to the fact that you two want me here to protect you from whatever will come," I explained. Now I wish that some one does come back. And fast. "Now don't bother me. I'm going to train."

After a few minutes of training, Nami came in panic. I turned to see what was wrong, only to see her holding a book.

"We're in trouble here guys!" she shouted. "This is terrible! This island is..!"

"This island is..?" Usopp repeated, feeling uneasy about the situation.

I began to hear some footsteps and turned to the source. I was surprised to see that it came from something I didn't think would exist here. Nami and Usopp let out an ear-piercing scream when they saw the source, having me to cover my ears.

I went into battle position, ready for whatever this guy will throw at us.


	8. Persistent Opponents

"Gebabababa!" laughed Brogy, the giant who invited Nami, Usopp and I for some lunch as his guests. "You humans sure are funny. A giant eat a puny human? I've never heard of that!"

"Oh. But my nakama are pretending to be dead. That or they became unconscious after seeing what you did to that dinosaur," I said, as I felt a sweatdrop form on the back of my head. '_How did this happen again?_' I asked myself.

* * *

_***FLASHBACK***_

Brogy was walking towards our ship. Nami and Usopp were freaking out, forgetting that I'm with them. The giant bent down to our eye level and started laughing. At first I thought he was thinking that we aren't much of a challenge to fight, until he began to speak.

"Well?"

"I-i'm sorry. C-could you repeat that?" Nami asked.

"I asked if you have any ale," Brogy said.

"We have some. So what?" I responded.

"AHHHH!" he suddenly screamed. Nami and Usopp screamed with him out of fear. Brogy than turned to see something behind him. The rest of us looked to see what he was looking at and saw a di- DINOSAUR?! What's a dinosaur doing here?! We're- Hang on. Didn't the two Dream Eaters say something about this island?

'_**Don't worry,**_' one of the said creatures spoke.

'_**He's a good guy,**_' the other explained.

Before I can mentally asked them what they meant, Brogy slashed the dinosaur's head off. Nami and Usopp, once again, let out an ear-piercing scream.

'_If they keep screaming like that, my ear drums will explode,_' I swore.

"I, AND I ALONE, AM ELBAF'S MIGHTIEST WARRIOR! BROGY!" he introduced/spoke highly of himself. I then looked at the weapon he's holding and suddenly saw a different version of his axe. Then I looked at Brogy and saw someone else instead. I rubbed my eyes and those weird images disappeared.

"Now I got some meat," the giant spoke, getting me out of my thoughts. "Join me, as my guests." When he said those words, Nami and Usopp fainted. "Hey, what's wrong with them?"

"How can you not notice what is wrong?!" I asked with my teeth being razor sharp.

"Hmm?" Brogy stared at me. I was starting to feel uncomfortable with the atmosphere until he began laughing. "Gebabababa! Oh yes. How can I not notice? None of you humans have seen a giant before, have you? Well then, that's more than enough reason to let you three join me! I can tell you anything about us giants, if you like."

I looked at Nami and Usopp when they didn't say anything to him. "I think they passed out on you," I said.

"Well then, I guess I'll help you bring them over to my place," the giant offered, picking Nami and Usopp up.

* * *

_***END OF FLASHBACK***_

"This looks delicious," Brogy spoke, as he blowed on the fire to cook the dinosaur meat.

"Are dinosaur meat really that good?" I questioned, considering that I never had dinosaur before, for obvious reasons.

"Yeah. They're the best. But that's my opinion. Try some when they're ready."

'_**Um... Keyblade's Chosen... Sorry but, can you please come get us?**_' one of the Dream Eaters asked.

'_I will, I will,_' I thought to it. Getting up I asked Brogy if I could go for a walk.

"Sure thing. I'll get you when the meat is ready," he replied. With that answer, I took my leave.

I then took out one of the Dream Eater card and saw it glowing. I went to where it was taking me and stopped when it was at its brightest. I looked up and saw that I was at the end of Brogy's home and couldn't help but notice that it looks like a skull. Leaving that thought alone, I entered the skull and saw a small glimmer of light. Summoning Starlight and pointing it at the glimmer, the beam of light hit its mark and revealed it to be a Keyhole, as I thought.

"**Xion... I hope you're ready for your challenge,**" Voice spoke.

"You know that I'm always ready," I said.

"**Okay then. Here's your challenge, and this time, it has nothing to do with Heartless.**"

"Well that's good news. I'm a little tired with fighting them all the time as a challenge."

"**Heheh. And so I hear, Xion. Anyway, your challenge is to defeat a carnivore dinosaur and a tiger.**"

"That's it? I thought it would be a bit more-"

"**Before a giant does,**" Voice suddenly added.

"Tell me that earlier!" I yelled. I then calmed down when I realized something. "But wait, isn't Brogy the only giant on this island?"

"**Who knows? There might be others.**"

"You got to be kidding me! Man, I don't have time to argue right now! Wish me luck!" That said, I ran out of the skull and looked for a carnivore dinosaur and a tiger before any other giants that might be on this island get to them first.

As I ran, I heard some screams. I turned to the source and saw a Saber Tooth Tiger and Nami and Usopp running away from a T-Rex. Seeing my big chance, I ran to them with my Keyblade in hand and started off with the current predator.

"**Fire Dash!**" I shouted, as I charged myself at the dinosaur while being cloak in flames. The carnivore got on fire and trashed around, until I knocked it out with Quick Blitz. "One down, one to go," I said, turning to the remaining trio, only to see my nakama being chased by the tiger. Using Freeze Raid at my target, the feline froze and I went for the finish. "This is the end! **Blitz!**" The ice then broke and the Saber Tooth Tiger was defeated as well.

"Xion-sama~!" And before I knew it, Nami and Usopp jumped on me. "Please, Xion-sama! Get us back to the ship!"

"Oi! You three!" came a loud, familiar voice. We faced the source and saw Brogy. "I saw what you just did there. You're pretty strong for someone so small."

"Uh... Thanks?" I didn't know what to say to a giant like him. I was just surprised that he still has that smile on his face.

"Anyway, the meat is ready. You need a lift?"

"Maybe these two," I said, pointing my thumb and Mr. and Mrs. Scaredy-Cat, both who flinched when I gave his offer over to them. "I'll catch up to you guys when I finish a short business." At that, Brogy took Nami and Usopp back to his place.

I was about to go back when I suddenly heard Voice's voice. "**Congratulations on completing your challenge. And saving your friends.**"

"Well, that's to be expected, sort of," I told him. "Anyway, the recipe."

"**So impatient.**" The wanted award then appeared before me as I accepted it. "**Now you need to find one more on this island.**"

"And so I figured. But first, I need to go back to the others. I'll awaken this guy when I get the other recipe." That decision made, I summoned Wyvern and we went back to Brogy's place.

* * *

When we got back to Brogy's place, I saw Nami and Usopp on the ground. "What's wrong with you two?" I asked, getting off of Wyvern.

"One year..." Nami spoke. "We have to stay here for one whole year..."

"What?!"

"That's right. So just enjoy yourselves," Brogy said.

"I understand what you're thinking, Brogy, but you have the wrong idea!" I said. "We don't have a whole year! We need to take our guest back home to stop a war from happening!"

"What was that?!"

"It's true! Don't you have an Eternal Pose? Or a Log Pose that's already set?"

"Sorry to say, but no," Brogy said. "Ah! But I think Dorry has one of the two!"

"Dorry?" I repeated.

"A fellow warrior of Elbaf. And my rival."

"Where can I find him?!"

"I can take you to him when the volcano explodes."

"And how long will that take?"

"Several minutes."

"... I guess I can wait that long."

"By the way, your pet isn't going to finish the meat all by itself." When Brogy said that, I turned to Wyvern, who's chowing down on some of the dinosaur meat.

"I suppose so," I agreed, as I summoned the rest of the gang. "Guys, dig in on some dinosaur meat." When they heard me say that, they immediately eat the said food. I took several pieces and gave some to Nami and Usopp, who regained conscious while I was talking to Brogy. "You guys should have some, too."

A few minutes later, a volcano erupted. I dropped the meat that I was eating and got on Brogy.

"Xion?" Nami called.

"Sorry guys," Brogy spoke. "Your magic swordswoman and I must get going."

"Going? To where?"

"To Brogy's friend," I answered.

"You see, that's the signal for our 100-year-long battle," the giant explained. I almost lost my footing when he told us what the volcano's eruption signalize.

"That long?! You don't even look that old!"

"Well, giants live three times longer than you humans."

"But, for what reason?" Usopp asked, talking about the battle, I bet.

"The reason? I FORGOT! Gebabababa!" the giant answered. "Oh? But you might want to get off, girl. Before I tell Dorry about your problem, I need to fight him first."

"I understand," I nodded, getting off. As soon as I touched the ground, Brogy charged to fight his rival.

'_**Oi! Human! How long are you going to just relax?!**_' the other Dream Eater's voice came. I widened my eyes in realization, when he said that.

"Oh man, I forgot!" I exclaimed out loud. I ran off before Nami and Usopp can say anything and took out another Dream Eater Card. I then looked at the first Dream Eater Recipe that I received on this island and placed it in my bag. As soon as I did, I heard something crash and skid to a stop.

'_What was that?!_' I wondered.

Quickly putting that thought behind me, I kept running to where the card is leading me. It wasn't long until some carnivores came into my view, looking at me like I'm an all-you-can-eat buffet. Annoyed by the time that I already wasted, I didn't feel like wasting any more time. That said, I summoned my Keyblade and was ready to blow the dinosaur away.

"You're in my way! **Sliding Rush!**" I yelled, as I used a stronger version of Sliding Dash on my opponent. However, once I passed it, the dinosaur started to chase after me! "Don't bother me! **Firaga!**" When my fire spell hit its mark, the dinosaur stopped chasing me. "Now to get to the Dream Eater recipe!"

* * *

_***MEANWHILE**GENERAL'S P.O.V***_

"Kyahahahaha! I have a clear view!" bragged Ms. Valentine, who used her Devil Fruit power to get a clear view of the island.

"They'll see you, Ms. Valentine! Hurry up and come down!" Mr. Five warned his partner.

"I'm fine, Mr. Five. They're completely absorbed in their little fight. They won't notice me at all."

"Let's keep it that way! Get down here now!"

"Sure, sure." As soon as Ms. Valentine agreed to that, she heard someone scream. She looked at the direction where the sound came from and saw some smoke. She then saw a few dinosaurs thrown up in the air before crashing back down to the ground. Rubbing her eyes, she saw no smoke or dinosaurs being thrown. "What? My eyes were playing tricks on me." With that, she extended down to the ground.

"Oi, just to make sure you've got this straight," Mr. Five spoke. "This is our big B200,000,000 job."

"Of course. Although I'm not that excited to be following Mr. Three's orders."

"Yeah. Let's go."

"Yeah."

* * *

_***BACK TO XION**XION'S P.O.V***_

'_Man! These stupid carnivores!_' I irritatedly thought. These dinosaurs just keep coming at me like cockroaches! When one comes down, they either get back up or more takes their place.

"Just go away!" I demanded, using Fire Surge on them. "I don't have time for any of you! **Summon: Majik Lapin, Ryu Dragon, Komory Bat and Fin Fatale!**" All my Dream Eaters appeared before me. "Let's go! Defeat every single one of them!" My partners screeched at the order in agreement.

After that long battle with the carnivores, my Dream Eaters and I sat or lied down to rest. Well, all except Fang, who seems just fine, even after that battle. Then again, all he did was screech in their ears and bite them. "All right. All of you except for Fang, get back in your cards to rest." After I called them back, I turned to Fang. "Fang, how come you're not tired after that battle? Is it because you just bit those dinosaurs and screech at them? Even so, you should be at least a little tired since you kept flying as we fought those dinosaurs." Fang just screeched softly and tilted its head sideways.

Getting up on my feet, I then said, "Well, if you're not tired, do you think you have enough strength to carry me to where the next recipe is?" My bat Dream Eater nodded happily. Seems to like flying, this little guy. "**Link Action: Fly-by Knight!**" With that link, Fang grabbed on to me and took me to the skies.

"But man, they were persistent. Anyway, you can sense where it is, right? If so, then fly me over to wherever your friend is." That said, Fang took me over to where the Dream Eater recipe is.

When we arrived there, I walked inside of the skull-like part of the mountain with Fang flying next to me and searched for the Keyhole. I found the said hole in the air like the previous one and unlocked it with Starlight.

"All right, Voice. What's the challenge this time?" When I asked that, several blue and orange monkeys appeared as well as a big one from behind me. Turning around to see my opponent, IT WAS A BIG CHAMELEON!

"**With your Dream Eater's help, defeat the Heartless,**" Voice said.

"Oh well, this is great," I sarcastically said. The giant chameleon then screeched, having the monkeys to come at us. Fang already went ahead to attack them and I soon got into battle myself.

After that battle with the monkeys was over, Fang and I went to the chameleon. As we charged towards it, the Heartless just disappeared.

"Where'd it go?!" I wondered out loud. Fang suddenly charged to somewhere and screeched. As I looked at what it was attacking, I see the chameleon turning visible.

'_Of course! Fang is a bat. And bats have sensitive ears. So we can easily beat this Heartless!_' I thought.

"Fang! Keep screeching at it!" I ordered, as I began running to the visible creature. "You won't escape this time! **Firaga Break!**" As I called that attack, a fireball was formed from Starlight and exploded. Although I got hit from my own attack as well, it did great damage to the chameleon Heartless. Fang then flew next to me.

"Now this should end it!" I declared, as I returned Starlight and placed my hand on my bat Dream Eater. "**Link Style: Darkest Fears!**" When I announced that link, there was a dark aura around me as well as some kind of darkness. Then, something went wrong. My heart... It was in some kind of pain. I clutched my chest where my heart is and my vision began to blur. The next thing you know, I blacked out.

* * *

When I regained consciousness, I saw that I'm not in that mountain, but somwhere outside on the island. I looked around and the first thing I saw was myself, covered blood. My eyes widen at the sight and I nervously looked at my surroundings to see several dead dinosaurs, all covered in their own blood.

"Wha-... What the hell happened here?!" I asked.

"**It seems the darkness was too much for you,**" came a familiar voice. "**I see that you still have some of _his_ darkness in you.**"

"His? Who are you talking about, Voice?" I demanded.

"**I'd rather not tell you of your past. However, even though you will most likely see him sometime in the future, I will only tell you that he was your leader.**"

"Leader?"

"**Yes. And he planned on using you to become his puppet by slowly filling you with his darkness by having you see things his way. It was a miracle that you managed to stay as yourself before that happened and that the boy stopped you from continuing your life as how it was.**"

"Wait. Are you saying that someone killed me?" I demanded.

"**In a way, yes. However, please understand that it was for your own good,**" Voice reasoned. "**Now then, let's not talk any more about your past. It's better if you find out about it yourself. For now, I should give you what you deserve for defeating those Heartless.**" When he said that, the second Dream Eater Recipe on this island appeared.

Before I accept my prize, I realized one little thing. "Where's Fang?!"

"**Do not worry. He's right my your side.**" I looked down to my sides and saw that Fang is sleeping next to me. "**He's completely worn out from doing that link with you. Your partner will recover in a few days.**"

"That's nice to know," I said, returning my Komory Bat back in its card before getting the new recipe.

Taking out the other recipe, I placed both of them down and looked through my bag to find the ingredients for the two new creatures. After I found the needed items, I set them in two groups and reawaken the Dream Eaters. I was shocked when I saw that my two new partners are dinosaurs!

One dinosaur Dream Eater is a triceratops with armor. The emblem is on its forehead, between its two large horns. The lower half of its head chest is red while the top half is yellow with cyan circles. Its face is tan and the snout is red. The horns and spikes are white are the bases to violet toward their tips, except for the one on the triceratops' snout, the two outermost horns on the head chest and the spike at the base of its tail, which are cyan with dark blue tips. The armor is red and lime green. Its neck and midsection as dark blue. The Dream Eater has red legs, cyan knees, tan feet and purple claws. Its chest is purple and spring green and the eyes are yellow-orange. This Dream Eater is a Cera Terror.

The other dinosaur Dream Eater is a tyrannosaurus rex. It's body is large and red with green streaks going down its sides. Two horn-like prjections are sticking out from the top of its head. It has a lime green belly and on its shoulders are yellow to purple ridges. The Dream Eater's claws at the end of its feet and hands are cyan to purple. The tail has a colorful, blade-like ridges. The symbol is on the top of its head. This is a Tyranto Rex.

At first, I was a little scared, mostly of the Tyranto Rex. But then those two began to snuggle me. I was shocked when this happened, almost forgetting that these two are Dream Eaters. I reached out to pet them and they both leaned into my hand, pleased with the touch. I laughed a little at the sight.

"All right then," I spoke, when I decided what their names will be. "The Cera Terror will be named Terra and the Tyranto Rex will be named Rex. You both okay with those names?" The two dinosaurs were happy with those names. "I would like to keep you two out for a little while, but I'd rather surprise the others. Mind staying in your cards for a little while?" The two dinosaurs nodded at the question in agreement. With that, they went in their cards and I walked back to Brogy's place.

When I stood, my body was a little sore. '_Might be due to that fatigue when using a Link Style,_' I convinced myself, as I began to walk back to Brogy. When I took a step forward, I saw something rising. The things that I saw suddenly fell and I heard a faint scream. Those two things gave me a horrible feeling. So I ran to the source of the scream and where those four things landed.

When I was at least half-way to the source, some of those plant Heartless appeared, as well as those monkey Heartless.

"A good thing that I already fought against those things," I muttered, summoning Starlight and Lapin and Wyvern. "I'll use the other two when we go against a big one," I decided.

Being plants, except for the Fire Plant, the plant Heartless were easily extinguished by Lapin's fire magic and Wyvern's fire attacks. As for the monkeys and the Fire Plants, I used as many magics as I can handle due to my current situation.

'_Man, I wish the fatigue will just be done right now,_' I mentally growled, as I used Strike Raid to destroy or stun the Heartless. I then ended the battle with a Thundaga.

"Hopefully that's all of them," I said to my Dream Eater partners, who nodded in agreement. "You guys deserve some more rest. Back in the cards for you two." As soon as they returned, I continued on to where the real battle takes place.

Once I arrived at the scene, I had a hard time taking everything that I'm seeing in me. First off, there were two people that I've never met, yet I'm starting to have a feeling that they are also members of Baroque Works. Secondly, LUFFY IS DRINKING TEA WITH ONE OF THOSE TWO PEOPLE! And lastly, Vivi, Zoro and Nami are stuck on some kind huge birthday cake, being covered in white stuff that are falling from the top part of the thing! What happened while I was gone?!

"Mr. Three. It seems there's one more of them," the girl drinking tea with Luffy told the man who has his hair as a big 3.

"I know there is. Once Mr. Five and Ms. Valentine gets the long-nose, I'll think about his fate," the 3 guy, obviously Mr. Three, said.

"I don't mean him with the duck," the girl corrected.

Turning around, Mr. Three was surprise when he saw me.

"Xion!" my female nakama called.

"Xion! Do something about the wax on us!" Nami begged.

"If you don't, we'll turn into statues!" Vivi explained.

"Can't believe Luffy is just sitting there drinking tea," I grumbled, running over to save them.

"Like I'll let you! **Candle Lock!**" Mr. Three shouted, as I felt something bind my legs. I looked down to see some kind of wax on my legs.

"Why you-! Now I have a different reason to use my new recruits!" I exclaimed, getting everyone's, except Luffy's, attention. "**Summon: Cera Terror, Tyranto Rex!**" At that call, my two dinosaurs got out of their cards and were ready for battle.

"Oh? So you have dinosaurs on you. Bet they're no different from the rest of them on this island," Three said.

"Terra! Rex! You two take care of that candleman! I'm going to save my nakama!" At that command, Terra and Rex charged at their target and I summoned my Keyblade to free myself from the wax. Using my fire spell, the wax melted from my legs and I charged over to my friends. As I did, I saw that they are covered in wax. The sight of this flicked my bad habit switch.

"Like I'll let you," came a female voice. "**Colors Trap: Uragiri no Kuro.**"

In my path was black paint, formed into some kind of symbol. In fact it was the same symbol that I saw on Luffy's vest. Seeing through the plan, I jumped over the paint, only to then be hit by something.

"**Colors Trap: Nagomi no Midori!**" I heard when my body started to feel a little weird. The next thing that happened was that I was drinking tea with Luffy and the girl!

"This is good tea," I said calmly. I tried to move my body, however, it wouldn't listen to me. When my eyes went to my other nakama, my bad habit shot up to max, having me to drop my tea cup and dashed over to them.

"**Colors Trap: Uragiri no Kuro!**" I heard when I was suddenly hit by something again. For some reason, I don't feel like saving Nami, Zoro and Vivi. When I looked up at them, my bad habit went at its max again!

"You guys! I'm coming to get you!" I shouted.

"**Candle Wall!**" came Three's voice, as a wall made of wax was formed in front of me.

"**Fire Dash!**" I shouted, as I was cloaked in flames and destroyed the wall once I made contact to it. "Don't get in my way!" As soon as I yelled that, there was wax all over the ground. The wax quickly hardened, making me unable to move.

"Why?! Why isn't Ms. Goldenweek's power working on you?!" I heard Three question.

"I guess this is where my bad habit is useful," I muttered, smirking. "And wax isn't going to hold me down! **Heat Dash!**" With that attack, I was wrapped in flames and slid my way to the wax cake. "Rex! Terra! Cover me!" When my two Dream Eaters caught up to me, we were suddenly trapped in a wax box. "In that case, Rex! Show them your specialty," I ordered, receiving a nod from the Tyranto Rex.

It walked up and breathed out fire at the wax. Yes, that's right. FIRE! It didn't bash its head on the wax; it breathed fire at it! I know I shouldn't be surprised at this, but who wouldn't be surprised to see a dinosaur breathing out flames! The wax was melting from the inside and I was feeling a little too hot. Helping Rex out, I also used my fire spells. While we were still trying to break free, Terra was getting my attention. I turned to see that it change into a ball with spikes. Seeing what it was planning, I nodded my head in agreement.

"Rex, change of plans," I said, having my partner to stop its fire. "Let's use our fire attacks on Terra. That way, with its strength, we'll get out of here faster." At first the Tyranto Rex was looking at me like I was crazy. Looking at the Cera Terror, it then nodded in agreement to the plan. That said, we went behind the triceratops Dream Eater and set it on fire. A few seconds later, Terra rolled at full speed at the wax. Once it made contact, the wax was melting faster and Rex and I charged after Terra so we wouldn't be covered in wax. Just when we got up to Terra, he got out and we quickly followed suit.

"Ehhh!? No way!" came voices from the Baroque Works. I turned to see Five and Valentine with Three and Goldenweek.

"If it's going to take more than hypnotizing me with paint to stop me, it's going to take a lot more than trapping me in a box made of wax with my Dream Eaters to stop me," I said. "Now I'll say it again: Don't get in my way!"


	9. Memories Returned and Saying Good-bye

**A/N: Partial credit to EvanderAdvent. Enjoy :)**

* * *

_Last time:_

_"Rex! Terra! Cover me!" When my two Dream Eaters caught up to me, we were suddenly trapped in a wax box. "In that case, Rex! Show them your specialty," I ordered, receiving a nod from the Tyranto Rex._

_It walked up and breathed out fire at the wax. The wax was melting from the inside and I was feeling a little too hot. Helping Rex out, I also used my fire spells. While we were still trying to break free, Terra was getting my attention. I turned to see that it change into a ball with spikes._

_"Rex, change of plans," I said, having my partner to stop its fire. "Let's use our fire attacks on Terra. That way, with its strength, we'll get out of here faster." It nodded in agreement to the plan. That said, we went behind the triceratops Dream Eater and set it on fire. Terra rolled at full speed at the wax. Once it made contact, the wax was melting faster and Rex and I charged after Terra so we wouldn't be covered in wax. Just when we got up to Terra, he got out and we quickly followed suit._

_"Ehhh!? No way!" came voices from the Baroque Works. I turned to see Five and Valentine with Three and Goldenweek._

_"If it's going to take more than hypnotizing me with paint to stop me, it's going to take a lot more than trapping me in a box made of wax with my Dream Eaters to stop me," I said. "Now I'll say it again: Don't get in my way!"_

* * *

"Ahhh! Xion! Where were you?! And why are there dinosaurs with you?!" came Usopp's voice.

'_**I agree with the long-nose! And why are they so colorful?!**_' followed Carue's voice.

"Whoa! Xion! You have dinosaurs on you!? Cool!" Oh, will you _look_ and see who _finally_ decides to help out.

"It's about time you decide to help out," I growled at the rubber idiot.

"It can't be helped!" he complained. "That little girl hypnotized me with her paint thing!"

"Well, it doesn't matter right now. There's still time to save our nakama. You two and Carue back me up. I'm more than enough to help them."

"Like we'll let you!" came Five's voice.

"We'll have our revenge for what happened back in Whiskey Peak!" Valentine's voice followed. I turned to see Valentine in the air and Five with a pistol in his hand.

"**Vanish,**" I muttered, as soon as they began to attack me. Once I turned invisible, I moved out of my spot to avoid the attacks.

"What the-?!" Valentine gasped.

"Where'd she go?!" Five demanded.

"Xion disappeared!? So cool!" At a time like this, Luffy?! Are you kidding me?! Then again, it's Luffy.

Getting back to the current situation, I ran towards Five. As I ran, I pointed my Keyblade at Valentine. When the spell wore off, Five seemed shock to see me suddenly in front of him. "**Collision Magnet,**" I said, as I pulled Valentine towards me with a magnetic force from Starlight. I then crashed her into her partner. Since Five was about to attack me with his bomb attacks, he 'exploded'. I managed to get out before he did.

"Luffy! Usopp! Carue! Take care of that waxman and his partner! I'll go and help Princess Vivi, Zoro and Nami!" I told them.

"Like I'll let you," came Three's voice from behind me. "And it's not 'waxman'. I'm a candleman. Now taste the the infinite despair of my attack." I turned just in time to see him in some kind of armor. "**Candle Champion!**"

Usopp and Carue shrieked in fear when they saw him. "What's he doing?" Luffy asked.

"This is what takes down a pirate with a bounty of B42,000,000," Three explained. "My greatest art work! And now, Ms. Goldenweek. Endow me with your lovely colors, artistically."

"Then can I take a break?" she asked.

"It matters not, but stay out of my way." At that, Goldenweek nodded in agreement. "When in this state, I am invincible! My magnificent doru-doru wax is as hard as steel. My entire body is encased in impenetrable armor! Therefore I have... NO WEAKNESS!"

"Except fire," I mumbled.

"So cool~!" my simple-minded captain admired.

"DON'T ADMIRE HIM!" Usopp and I scolded.

"FIGHT HIM!" he added.

'_**Yeah!**_' Carue agreed.

"Anyway, Luffy! I'm leaving the waxman to you!" I exclaimed, running to our waxed nakama. "Terra! You help him!"

"I won't let you! As soon as Ms. Goldenweek is done painting me, I'll crush you!" said the waxman.

"I won't let _you_!" Luffy protested.

With that I continued to run towards the wax cake, with my tyrannosaurus Dream Eater running by my side. "Rex!" I called, getting the Tyranto Rex's attention. "I hope you still have some juice in you. The fastest way to free them is by using that link! I might become extremely weak, since this will be the second time that I'll use this kind, but we don't have a choice!" Hearing him roar in agreement was enough for me.

As we close in on the cake, I place my hand on Rex's head when he lowered it. "Here we go! **Link Style: Fire Raid!**" Once the link was complete, the fatigue instantly came back. '_Like hell I'll lose to it right now!_' I mentally yelled.

I jumped on the wax until I was at the spinning half-dome. At that moment, Starlight was imbue in flames. I hurled it twice at the dome as though I'm using a chakram instead. I then summoned more Keyblades and threw them inside the dome. The original came out and went back in my hands as I landed on the cake next to the waxed comrades. The moment my feet touched the wax, I leaped up and did my combo again.

"And now for the finish!" I said, as I backflipped away from the wax, throwing a lot of copies at it as they emerged into flames once they hit their mark. The moment they made contact, I'm not sure why, but the wax erupted into flames!

'_That's not what happened last time,_' I thought, as I delinked.

"What a huge fire!" I heard Luffy state. "Are they gonna be okay?"

"No! Curse you, Starlight Blade! How dare you ruin my Candle Service Set!? You'll pay for this!" I turned to Three to see that his armor has melted and ran off without it.

"Ah! You won't get away!" my captain demanded.

'_Why is it time like this that he's reliable?_' I wondered. I suddenly felt pain all over my body. I went on my knees as I tried to endure this pain.

"**Curaga!**" I shouted, trying to heal myself, only to make myself weaker instead. "Oh yeah. I can only use basic spells in this state," I realized. "**Cure!**" I healed thanks to the spell, but not by much, I wanted to use the spell again, but I feel like my arm would fall off if I did.

"Now you've done it!" I heard. Looking up, I saw Ms. Valentine. "I'll just smash you to pieces! **Hissatsu: 10,000 Kilo Guillotine!**" At that, she began a sure-kill axe-kick, ON ME! I was too weak to move out. I just stayed there. I would've died, if it wasn't for Nami and Princess Vivi, both who knocked Valentine out of the way with a staff and peacock slashers.

"It was hot in there," I heard Nami said. "Is that the best you could do?"

"It was the quickest way to get you out. And be glad that you're alive," I said.

"You're right. Thanks."

"I still can't believe it. We're actually alive," the princess said, looking at herself.

I heard Rex snort next to me and Terra walking up to us from the corner of my eyes and I could guess what Rex just said. 'Believe it,' is probably what he said.

"You can say that again," I said. I saw Nami and Vivi look at my new Dream Eaters from the other corner of my eyes. The next thing you know was the expected: they freaked out.

"DINOSAURS!" they shrieked.

"They're also a Dream Eater so calm down already!" I yelled, revealing razor-sharp teeth. I suddenly felt something coming from behind me. I reacted fast and deflect whatever was coming with my Keyblade.

"I won't let you screw up our missions any more!" Five exclaimed.

"But I just did! What are you going to do about it?!"

"I'll eliminate you with my Full-Body Explosion! You'll be less than bone shreds when I'm done!"

Before I could react, he knocked Starlight out of my hand and got prepared to attack me. "**Yaki Onigiri!**" came a shout. I turned to the source to see Zoro jump out of the flames, covered in fire. He then slashed Five with his flaming swords.

Just when he did though, I saw another image. Or rather, images. They were about a guy with fire-red spiky hair. The one from my Dive to the Heart before I got Starlight. There were so many images, my head felt like it would explode. It hurts so much, I clutched my head and lied down on the grass, screaming in pain.

* * *

_***GENERAL'S P.O.V***_

"Augh! Ah! Ahhh!" Xion screamed, clutching her head.

"XION!" her nakama, except Luffy who went after Mr. Three and Ms. Goldenweek, called, running up to her.

"What's wrong, Xion?!" Nami asked.

"Are you hurt?!" Vivi questioned. The only replies they got from their fallen comrade were screams in pain.

"Oi, oi. Do you think maybe she's regaining a lot of her memories?" Usopp spoke.

"From what?! There's no way that so many memories will just come back from seeing one attack!" Nami protested.

"Then why is Xion acting like this if it isn't?!"

* * *

_***XION'S P.O.V***_

'_So many images... of that guy!_' I thought, seeing more of that red-haired man. Most of the memories with him was on a cloock tower with another boy. And we were looking at the sunset.

'**_Oh, you're not sure? What, did they forget to build you with common sense?_**' I heard. I snapped my eyes open to find myself talking to him. It was dark at that time and I think we were outside in out black coats.

"Oh, come on, don't look so shocked. You already knew you're a replica," he continued. "A puppet whose original purpose was to duplicate Roxas's powers. If he's getting weaker and you're getting stronger..." I noticed that his voice faded when he said that. And... who's Roxas? "... that just means you're borrowing a little more than you oughta be."

I looked down in shock. A puppet? Me? "... What should I do, then?" I asked, feeling uneasy about the conversation.

"I can't make that decision for you. You're no puppet in my book," he said. "You're my best friend. Mine and Roxas's. Got it memorized?"

I nodded my head before feeling down again. "Can I ask you one other thing?"

"What's that?"

"I saw a boy today who looks just like Roxas. Is he who I think he is?" A boy? Wait, what am I saying? I don't know what's happening here if I don't know what happened before. Just when I asked that question, the scene changed. As it did, my head started to hurt again.

'_**Xion. What are you thinking?**_' came his voice again. My eyes once again snapped open and this time, I was in front of a mansion of some sort. In front of me was Axel, who- Wait. How did I know his name just now?

"I have to go back to where I belong," I told him.

"At first, I thought that was the best thing to do too. But somehow, I'm not convinced. Something about this just stinks."

"But it's for the good of everyone." Doing what is for the good of everyone? What am I saying?

"That's what people always say when they're being selfish. Every single one of them."

"This is the right thing to do."

"You wanna be erased!?" I saw his eyes widen when I took out a weapon. It's strange. In my hand was a Keyblade, only different from the one that I currently weild. Although, what did he mean by 'erase'?

"Don't go easy on me, Axel," I requested.

He seemed... annoyed? Irritated? Either way, he seems upset about my request. "Stop fucking around!" he snapped. "You both... think you can do whatever you want! I've made up my mind! You guys can run all you want, but I'll always be there to bring you back!" As he said that last sentence, he summoned his own weapon: a chakram.

After that, my head seems to have calmed down. It doesn't hurt anymore. Opening my eyes, I found myself lying down on the grass, with a similiar green jacket over me and a rag on my forehead. Slowly sitting up, I groaned as my head felt light, telling me to lie back down. the sound I made grabbed everyone's attention.

"Xion!" they all called.

"That's great. You're alive!" Nami stated.

"I almost thought that you died or something!" Usopp cried.

"Ugh... What happened to me?" I asked, holding my head.

"You tell us," Zoro said. "The moment I took out that bomb man, you just screamed and clutched your head. The next thing we know, you just went unconscious on us."

"Did your memories return?" Princess Vivi asked. Guess they told her about my problem since she asked that question.

"Yeah. Some of it," I replied, giving the jacket back to Vivi.

"Not that I care, but what do you remember?" Luffy asked. Why did he anyway if he said that he didn't care?

"If you don't care about what I remember, then there's no point in telling you. And... let's just say, I now know why I always watched the sun set, on high places." Well, it's true. Even before I became a Straw Hat pirate, I always watch the sun set back on Tanoshi Island on the roof of Miki and her family's house. And ever since I joined, I always watched the sun set from the crow's nest. I thought something might come back to me if I watch the sun rise as well, but nothing came back. Even so, I kept watching the sun set and sometimes I watch the sun rise.

"Well, the important thing is that everyone is all right. Even Master Dorry," Usopp said.

"Yeah. And with that out of the way... Xion..."

"Yes, Nami?"

"WHY DO YOU HAVE COLORFUL DINOSAURS WITH YOU?! AN ONE OF THEM ISN'T ACTING LIKE IT'S OWN KIND!" she questioned.

"I thought I told Usopp that they are my new Dream Eaters. So of course they wouldn't act like real animals," I said.

"Oh, I see," she, Usopp, Princess Vivi, Zoro and Luffy said, each placing a fist on their palms.

"By the way, where's Sanji?" The moment I asked that question, the said chef, no wait, lovesick boy, came, calling for us girls in his I-love-you-so-much tone and the guys in his I-don't-care-a-damn-thing-about-you-guys tone.

"Yo, Sanji!" Luffy called back.

"Everyone's safe, right? Thank goodness~!"

"I bet he's talking about the three of us," I said to the princess and Nami.

"That dork never showed up to help us and now he has the gall to show up now?!" Usopp growled as he and Carue gave off an irritated look.

"Hey! What's going on here?!" Sanji demanded, running up to the giants. "Are you Mr. Three?!"

"Hey, how do you know about Mr. Three?" Nami asked.

I didn't bother to listen to any more of the conversation as I returned Rex and Terra back to their cards. Before I could though, _SOMEBODY_ just had to kick my allies, HARD!

"Shitty dinosaurs," he said. "It's all right now, Xion-swan~! They won't bother you ever again~!" I know that he wasn't there when I explained it... HOWEVER! He should AT LEAST tell that they aren't ordinary dinosaurs, _JUST_ by looking at the colors!

"Sanji..." I called, holding my anger in.

"Yes~?"

"HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO MY NEW DREAM EATERS?!" I questioned, beating him up.

"Wait, those shitty dinosaurs are-?!"

"DO NOT CALL THEM SHITTY! I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Aren't you doing that right now?" I heard Zoro ask.

"You! Shut up!" I immediately calmed down and went to Rex and Terra's side. "Are you two okay?" They both softly made a sound, signalling that they are all right. "You two get back in your cards and get as much rest as you want." That said, they returned to their 'rooms'.

* * *

"You talked to the boss?!" Princess Vivi asked Sanji. After he recovered, he began to explain to us what he was doing while we were fighting against Five, Three, Valentine, and Goldenweek.

"Yeah. There was this weird-ass hideout in the middle of the jungle. Seems he mistook me for this Mr. Three. So I went ahead and told him that I finished you guys off."

"That means he thinks we're dead, right?" Vivi summarized.

"Why is it that when nobody's looking for us, we can't leave?!" Usopp cried.

"We can't leave?" our cook repeated. "Do we still have something to do here? And after I went through the trouble of bringing you this." When he said that, he took out an Eternal Pose. AND IT LEADS TO ARABASTA! Our one-way ticket out of here is in his hands!? How?!

We all looked at him with our jaws dropped.

"It's an Eternal Pose to Arabasta!" Luffy happily identified.

"That means we can get out of here!" I said, forgetting about the quesitons that were in my head about how he got it. We all cheered at this miracle.

"Yosh! Senbei (rice crackers) party!" he declared.

I almost lost my balance when he declared that. There's no time for a party on an island any way. So just what is he talking about?!

"Now's not the time for a party!" I exclaimed. "Now that we have an Eternal Pose to Arabasta, we have to hurry on out of here!"

"Xion's right! We have to leave!" the princess agreed.

"Oh yeah. You. You haven't forgotten about our Hunting Contest, have you?" Sanji asked Zoro.

"No. And I won, by the way," our swordsman told our cook. "I caught a rhino this big."

I ignored the rest of the conversation, since I already know that there would be an argument between them.

"Xion, on your back and side," I heard Princess Vivi spoke to me. I looked at my back to see some wax on the symbol that Goldenweek placed on me. As for my side, the black symbol was smeared.

"Oh these? What about it?"

"Did Ms. Goldenweek hypnotize you?"

"Tried to." I saw her confused look when I answered. "When I saw you, Zoro and Nami as waxed statues, my bad habit took over, so her paint was useless. Which means that you guys were saved thanks to my bad habit."

"I think it should be a good habit," she told me.

"I second that," Nami agreed. "And we should changed your position on this crew."

"That's captain's decision," I said. Just when I said that, Nami went to Luffy and asked him that he should change my position in his crew.

"Then in that case, Xion! From now on, you are our First Mate!" he declared.

"Didn't I say-?"

"It's fine," Luffy interrupted me. "You'd do a better job at it than Zoro."

"He has a point there, especially with how reliable you are," our swordsman agreed.

"... I guess there's no choice. Besides that, you are the captain." When I said that, most of my crewmates cheered. I tried to stand up, only to get back down on my knees.

"Xion, what's wrong?" I heard Nami questioned.

"The technique I used to save you guys easily wears me out. I can't walk for a while," I half-lied. I don't want to risk telling them that I used the Link Style twice. You'll never know who else is on this island.

"If that's the case, then let us help you," the princess offered, as she and Nami helped me up and walk.

"Thanks you two."

"Well then, Round-ossan, Big-ossan! We're gonna get going," Luffy told the giants.

"I see," Broggy spoke. "Well, you seem to be in a hurry."

"It's too bad you can't stay," Dorry said. "But don't let that stop you. I hope your country is safe."

"Yes. Thank you," the princess thanked, as we took our leave.

A few minutes later, as we walk, I felt something moving in my pocket. Taking whatever it was out, it was a Keychain of some sort. Decided to check it out later, I asked Nami to put it somewhere in my bag.

* * *

When we got back, Zoro and Sanji were arguing about who has the bigger catch. I stayed out of the fight, thinking that they would end it themselves.

"GET UP HERE NOW!" I heard Nami yelled. And I take back what I thought; Nami would end it. Looking at the Keychain that I found in my pocket, I wondered how it got in.

'_My head's still light from the fatigue of using two Link Styles in one day,_' I told myself. '_I'll check it out tomorrow._' My mind then went to those Baroque Works members. My bad habit kicked in at the thought of them. Even though they deserve staying on this island, my bad habit tells me that they were just following orders and were blinded by what Crocodile promised them. I got off the ship, going to search for them.

"Xion. What are you doing?" Usopp asked.

"Ah~ How nice~. Xion-swan is helping me carry the meat inside~."

'_You wish,_' I thought. "I'm going to find those Baroque Work members," I told them.

"WHAT?!" I thought they would ask that.

"Are you crazy?! After all they did to us?! No way! Nuh-uh! No! No! No! No! No! You are not serious!" Nami argued.

"All they did was follow their order. That and they were blinded by Crocodile's promise to them. Besides, I bet they have a bigger dream than to be officers of something that Crocodile promised. If they stay here, they won't be able to achieve it. I know they deserve to get eaten by dinosaurs, but my bad habit says otherwise."

"Then leave them a ship," Luffy said.

"You be quiet!" the rest of the crew shouted at him.

"Even if what you said is true, I'll regret it for the rest of my life it I don't do something for them," I reasoned. That seemed to be enough to convince them, for those who were on the Going Merry got off and helped me build a ship or a raft.

After we all did our job, we set sailed.

"They said if we continue on this route, we'll come out on the west side of the island," Nami told us.

"Oi. Couldn't we get anymore meat onboard?" Luffy asked.

"Moron, if we took anymore, it would spoil before we eat it," Sanji reasoned.

"Besides that, it would probably sink the ship," I said.

"By the way, Xion," I heard Vivi call. "I take back what I said about your bad habit."

"Me too," Nami agreed.

"Hey! It's the Giant-ossans! They came to see us off!" Luffy announced, pointing at the said duo.

"... For all tiny humans that came to this island," Brogy spoke.

"... the biggest reason they could never reach the next island lies ahead," Dorry continued for him. We were confused when they said that. "You guarded our honor with your lives."

"And so, we shall do the same, no matter what kind of enemy there may be."

"A friend's honor must not be tarnished, no matter what the cost."

"Believe in us and continue straight ahead! Whatever should appear, do not stray from your course!"

"I got it!" our captain relied.

"Got what?" Zoro asked.

"What is it that you get?" Usopp questioned.

"NO MATTER WHAT, WE'LL GO STRAIGHT AHEAD!" was all Luffy said.

"This is farewell," Brogy said, as we sailed out of the island.

"We'll meet again," Dorry said.

"Without a doubt."

"Look! Up ahead!" Nami screamed. Something big was coming out of the water. To our surprise, IT WAS A HUGE GOLDFISH WITH TEETH!

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Usopp shrieked.

"What is that thing?" Luffy calmly questioned. "A goldfish?"

"Turn the helm! Hurry! Before we get eaten!" Nami ordered me.

"I would, but Brogy and Dorry said to just sail ahead. They're obviously going to do something, so I'm just going to trust them!" I reasoned.

"WRONG! This is when your bad habit kicks in! So help us now!"

"That would be true, if it did."

"Ahh! Luffy! You do something then! That thing is nothing like Laboon!"

"I know. Just settle down." HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT HE'S STILL CALM?! IT'S A MIRACLE!"Here, have the last senbei."

"I don't want it!" Nami exclaimed, catching the cracker anyway. "We've got to turn the ship around! We're all gonna be-!"

"Just give up, Nami," Zoro calmly said. And shouldn't my bad habit be kicking in sometime soon?

"Luffy! We can trust those guys, right!?" Sanji questioned.

"Yup!"

"Seriously?! Are we really going to sail straight into that monster?!" Princess Vivi asked.

"Oh, believe it," I said.

"It's too late! We can't stop now!" our navigator cried, as we were eaten by the goldfish.

"STRAIGHT AHEAD! S-STRAIGHT AHEAD!" Usopp cried.

"What are you talking about?!" Nami asked. "We've just been eaten!"

"STRAIGHT AHEAD! STRAIGHT AHEAD!" Luffy yelled.

A few seconds later, I felt like there's something behind us. Running to the back, I saw some kind of light pierce through the fish. The light went past us and pierced through the other side. Thanks to that, we made it out! Without a doubt, this was thanks to Brogy and Dorry. I will forever be in their debt.


	10. Nami's Sick! A Monstrous Storm

**A/N: Partial credit goes to EvanderAdvent.**

* * *

_Last time:_

_"STRAIGHT AHEAD! S-STRAIGHT AHEAD!" Usopp cried._

_"What are you talking about?!" Nami asked. "We've just been eaten!"_

_"STRAIGHT AHEAD! STRAIGHT AHEAD!" Luffy yelled._

_A few seconds later, I felt like there's something behind us. Running to the back, I saw some kind of light pierce through the fish. The light went past us and pierced through the other side. Thanks to that, we made it out! Without a doubt, this was thanks to Brogy and Dorry. I will forever be in their debt._

* * *

"We flew through!" Luffy shouted.

I can't believe that we're actually out of the goldfish. "No turning back, now! We're going straight ahead!" I yelled.

"Huge! That was huge!" Luffy stated.

"They even pierced the ocean itself!" Usopp cried. "This is the true strength... of Elbaf's warriors! It's so awesome~!" At that statement, Merry landed in the ocean.

A few minutes after we landed, I walked to the girls' room. I saw Zoro holding so many weights as I walked, thinking that he's training on his own and that his strength is above normal human's strength. Once I was in the girls' bedroom, I took out the Keychain and examined it. It seems similiar to the one on Starlight. Thinking that it might be for decoration, I summoned my Keyblade and swap the chains.

When I did, I was really surprised with the result! Starlight changed! The color of the guard is now yellow. The blade is like Zoro's katanas. And the teeth, which is on the back of the blade, is an axe, similiar to Brogy's. I seem to have forgotten to mention that on the end of the Keychain is a shield with the letter 'w' on it. I was in awe at the sight of the Keyblade.

'_**Warrior's Pride,**_' came Voice's voice. '_**That's the name of your new Keyblade. Whatever Keychains you switch on your Keyblade, changes the weapon itself. It also makes the weapon stronger.**_'

"Then I guess that means that I have to practice with this Keyblade," I said. "To get use to the power and control. If what you said is true, then I better get started."

'_**Well said, Xion.**_'

Just when I was going to walk out to start my training, I heard a shout, which surprised me, causing me to drop my weapon. When I grabbed it by the blade, below the teeth, it was a big mistake. The blade is really sharp, like a real sword. '_Goes to show you that not all Keyblades are the same. And I don't mean just by appearance,_' I thought. I used the cure spell to heal the cut on my hand. '_I have to be extra careful with this weapon._'

That said, I got my black coat out and change into it. It has more endurance than normal clothes, so there's less chance in me hurting myself. After I changed into my coat, I walked out of the room.

The moment I walked out, I saw Nami on the floor, breathing hard. Princess Vivi was at her side and her hand was on Nami's forehead. Having a bad feeling about this, I placed my training on hold and ran to them.

"What's wrong?" I asked, placing my hand on Nami's forehead. My eyes widen when I felt it. "Emergency! Everyone get over here!"

"What's wrong, Xion?!" Luffy asked, as he, Usopp, Carue and Sanji walked out of the kitchen.

"Nami-san's come down with a high fever!" Vivi explained.

"NAMI-SAN HAS WHAT?!" Sanji asked, pushing Luffy and Usopp out of the way.

"**Summon: Ryu Dragon, Komory Bat and Fin Fatale!**" I called, as the three needed Dream Eaters came out of their cards. "I want you three to search and see if there's an island nearby! If you see one, report back to the ship! I'll then call the rest of you back! Now go! Go! Go!" At that order, Wyvern and Fang flew off to search for an island and Torpedo dove into the water to search for one.

Once they left, I carried Nami on my back. "Now as for the rest of you! First we need to bring Nami to the girl's room! I need a clean towel and a bucket of ice cold water! Now move it!" With that, the boys, except Zoro, went to get the needed items and Princess Vivi helped me get Nami to her room.

When I placed the sick girl gently on the bed and tucked her in to make her comfortable, I summoned Lapin. "Princess Vivi, give me the Eternal Pose to Arabasta," I said. The princess handed me to Log Pose and I handed it to the Majik Lapin. "I need you to steer the ship. Make sure it's going where this Eternal Pose is pointing. Otherwise, we'll get lost and Nami won't get better." At that, my rabbit Dream Eater saluted using her ears and ran to the helm.

"We got the clean towels and ice cold water!" Luffy exclaimed, as he, Usopp and Sanji ran in with the said items.

"Good. Put them on the table," I ordered.

"Is Nami-san going to die? Is she, Vivi-chan? Xion-san?" Sanji asked, crying.

"She won't if we bring her to a doctor," I said, as I placed the cold, wet towel on Nami's head.

"It's probably due to the climate. One of the obstacles seafarers invariably face upon entering the Grand Line is the threat of illness due to the unnatural climate," the princess explained. "It is not unusual for fearless pirates. Even those with great reputations in other seas to succumb to the climate and pass away. Even the slightest of symptons may lead to death if they are not treated immediately." Those words only made Sanji cry even more. "Is there anyone on this ship who has even the slightest medical knowledge." Luffy pointed at Nami and Usopp pointed at me.

"But she'll get better if she eats meat. Right, Sanji?" Luffy said. And what, in gods name, made him _think_ that?

"There's no meal that can help a sick person," I said, as I look for a medical book. "For illness, we need to give her medicine or a certain kind of remedy. Even if you prepare food for Nami, when a person is sick, they lose their appetite."

"Besides that, I make Nami-san, Xion-san and Vivi-chan food with a hundred times more care than yours. I give them all the freshest meat and vegetables. And then all the rotten shit is what I feed you guys."

"Oi!" Usopp complained, slapping Sanji's hand.

"But even so, it still taste good," Luffy laughed.

When I found a medical book, I flipped the pages to search for the illness that Nami has.

"Then just feed her all of them," Luffy suggested. When I heard that, I dropped the book, causing everyone's eyes to be at me.

"What in the world makes you think that a sick person has that big an appetite?" I asked, picking up the book. "Didn't you hear what I said earlier? When a person is sick, they lose their appetite. Give her as many food as you want, but Nami can only eat at least a small handful."

"F-fourty degrees celcius?!" Princess Vivi gasped.

"Her fever went up?!"

"There'll be doctors once we get to Arabasta, right?" Usopp asked. "How much longer 'til we get there, Vivi?"

"I'm not sure, but I don't think we can get there within a week," the princess said.

"Is being sick really that painful?" Luffy asked. And just what does he mean by that?

"I dunno. I've never been before," Usopp and Sanji replied.

"JUST WHAT _ARE_ YOU PEOPLE?!" princess and I demanded.

"Can't you even see the pain she's in right now?!" I added. "A fever of fourty degrees is a dire matter! A fever that high is most likely life-threatening!"

Oh, how I wish I didn't say that. For the three boys and Carue, when did he get here, were panicing. Their panic were driving me crazy at the situation, I think I popped a blood vessel.

"IF YOU PEOPLE ARE JUST GOING TO CRY AND PANIC ABOUT IT THEN GET OUT!" I shouted, kicking them, except for the princess, out of the room, hard. "I already have my Dream Eaters search for an island so call me if you see Wyvern, Fang or Torpedo!" With that, I shut the door close. Once I did, I slumped down and placed my hand on my head. "Man, those idiots."

"Xion. Are you sick, too?" Princess Vivi asked.

"It's not that I'm sick. It's just that I have a headache. Anyways, watch over Nami while I look up on what type of sickness she has."

"No..." came a weak voice. Vivi and I turned to Nami getting up. We both ran to her side to help her up. "In my desk drawer, there's a newspaper," she said. the princess went to get the paper. "Page ten..."

Vivi flipped to the page and I saw her eyes widen. "N-no... This can't be..." Vivi said.

"What's wrong, Princess Vivi?" I asked.

"'300,000 Imperial Soldiers have defected to join the Rebel Army.'" My eyes widened at the news. "At the outset, there were 600,000 Imperial Soldiers suppressing 400,000 rebels. But in one stroke, the odds have...!"

"Now the rebellion against Arabasta will start to gain momentum. That paper's three days ago," Nami said. "I'm sorry. Even if I showed it to you, it wouldn't have changed our ship's speed. I thought it would only cause you more stress, so I hid it."

"I understand what you're trying to do, Nami," I spoke. "However, if you die from sickness, then there's no way we'll get to Arabasta. Even if-"

"I'm fine. That thermometer's just broken," she lied. "Nobody has a body temperature of fourty degrees celcius. It's probably just a little heatstroke. I don't need to see a doctor. It'll go away by itself."

Despite Nami's attempt, my bad habit kicked in. "No. You're staying right here in this room," I said. "You're our trustworty navigator. And thermometers don't mistake people's temperature. Until a doctor sees you and gets you better, you're staying in bed."

"Xion, I'm telling you. I'm just-"

"NO! You are not fine! You are not all right! Do you really think that any of us are good at navigating than you?! And besides, what about your dream? If you push yourself too hard, you're dream won't come true! I left the navigating to Lapin, since someone, or rather somebody, will get us lost. But she's only following the Eternal Pose! We won't know when a storm will come up like you do and I won't forgive myself if we don't bring you to a doctor as fast as possible." I sighed when I realize that my words won't be enough to convince her. Not wanting to hear anything, I walked out of the room. "I'm going to get a drink of water."

When I got on deck, I saw Zoro and Lapin fighting. "WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?!" I questioned.

"This stupid rabbit of yours is taking this ship to the wrong direction!" Zoro shouted. "I looked at the cloud and when I saw that we weren't going where that cloud is going, I knew instantly that the ship is going the wrong way."

Raising my eyebrow in suspicion, I looked at Lapin. "Lapin, throw me the Eternal Pose." My Dream Eater threw me the said object and I saw that we were going the right way. "Maybe you need to stop trusting your instincts for once, Zoro. According to the Eternal Pose, we're going the right way. And in case if you didn't remember- Oh wait, that's right, you were asleep that time," I said. I was about to remind him what Princess Vivi warned us back when she was Ms. Wednesday, when I remembered that he was in dreamland that time. "Anyway, I don't remember trusting you to do the navigating, so do your training."

"What was that?!" Zoro asked.

"Oi, oi! Xion! I know how you feel and all, but wasn't that harsh?" Usopp asked.

"Harsh or not, I'm only stating the truth. Now all of you just go back to your business! When you see any of my Dream Eaters, call me!"

"Xion! I found one!" Luffy called.

"Which one?"

"The rabbit."

"I MEAN THE ONES THAT I SENT TO SEARCH FOR AN ISLAND NEARBY, IDIOT!" I irritatedly corrected, my teeth becoming shark-like. "My god! I feel like I can't trust any of you guys with anything! No wait! Let me correct that; I feel like I'm being trusted with everything here! Just why the hell am I in this crew anyway?! I didn't agree to become a mother for any of you guys! Sorry if I brought up any bad memories, but I just feel like I'm only here to look after all of you guys! Now then, if you see any of my Dream Eaters, that are not on this ship, call me! Lapin, go back to steering the ship!" After saying those words, I left to the kitchen to get some water and my rabbit Dream Eater went to do its job.

* * *

_***WITH THE GUYS**GENERAL'S P.O.V***_

"That bastard," Zoro growled. "Just who does she think she is?"

"But you know, she's not wrong," Sanji said.

"What was that?!"

"Well, we do always rely on her for everything. Helping us move the ship, leading it out of that crazy storm, protecting us, we even relied on her to save you guys back in Little Garden when you, Nami and Vivi were going to turn into statues," Usopp stated.

"So, what do you think we should do?" Luffy asked.

"Not relying on her so much and give her a break. Right now, Nami's sick and we can't have Xion help us with anything else. So it's best if we do as she told us to do and wait for one of her Dream Eaters to return."

* * *

_***FIVE MINUTES EARILER, IN THE GIRL'S ROOM***_

"What should I do?" Vivi asked herself. "At this rate, many of my people will die in a meaningless war."

"Then let's just take you back to Arabasta," Nami suggested. "I'll be fine. Xion's just overreacting." When she said that, she and Vivi heard screaming. "What's going on?"

"Should we take a look? It sounds like there's an argument," the princess suggested, putting the newspaper down. She saw Nami nodded her head and helped her up to see what's going on.

"Anyway, I don't remember trusting you to do the navigating, so do your training," the girls heard Xion said from behind the door.

"What was that?!" came Zoro's voice.

"Oi, oi! Xion! I know how you feel and all, but wasn't that harsh?" Usopp's voice followed.

"Harsh or not, I'm only stating the truth. Now all of you just go back to your business! When you see any of my Dream Eaters, call me!"

"Xion! I found one!" Luffy called.

"Which one?"

"The rabbit."

"I MEAN THE ONES THAT I SENT TO SEARCH FOR AN ISLAND NEARBY, IDIOT! My god! I feel like I can't trust any of you guys with anything! No wait! Let me correct that; I feel like I'm being trusted with everything here! Just why the hell am I in this crew anyway?! I didn't agree to become a mother for any of you guys! Sorry if I brought up any bad memories, but I just feel like I'm only here to look after all of you guys! Now then, if you see any of my Dream Eaters, that are not on this ship, call me! Lapin, go back to steering the ship!"

After hearing Xion said those words, the two girls were in deep thought. They had no idea that Xion was feeling this way. In fact, no one on the Going Merry knew that she felt that way.

"I don't think she's wrong," Nami told Vivi. "We have been relying on her a lot. But, I never knew that she..."

Vivi was deep in thought. She thought about what Xion said and decided that she was right. When Usopp ran to them back in Little Garden, she asked him where Xion is since she was suppose to be with them when Nami was taken by Mr. Three. And when Zoro told her and Nami that they could place their lives in Luffy and Xion, she placed more of her life in Xion's, seeing how reliable she is. And when she found out that Ms. Goldenweek's powers are useless on her, she thought that she would be able to stop the upcoming war and stop Crocodile. Now that she knows that Xion doesn't want to be relied on all the time, or so it sounds, she finally made up her mind.

* * *

_***XION'S P.O.V***_

'_**Don't you think that you were a little too hard on them?**_' Voice asked me.

"I wasn't a little too hard on them; I was harsh," I corrected.

'_**Well don't you think that maybe you should apologize?**_'

"Don't get me wrong, Voice, but I don't want to apologize to them. I just want them to know how I feel. I know I shouldn't be so rough on them and all, but I don't want to be relied on all the time. They should know by now that even I'm a human. Meaning that I also have my limit. If they keep asking me for favors, I'll collapse from exhaustion or worse."

'**_I understand. But you shouldn't yell at them. If you do want them to know how you feel about always being relied on, you should've said it in a nice, calm, easy way. Not in a way that makes it sound like you hate people counting on you for everything._**'

"I know, Voice. But how am I going to apologize to them now? They probably hate me and plan on leaving me on an island after Nami gets better."

'_**If they do do that, then you know who to blame.**_'

"Yeah. Myself. I can't blame anyone else but my own self. If I didn't snap, then they won't get the idea."

'_**Well, then. Now do you think that you should apologize?**_'

"I don't think; I'm positive that I should apologize." After that conversation with Voice, I brought up all my courage and walked to the door. The moment I stepped out, I heard Luffy shout.

"WHOA! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"

I looked at the direction that he's pointing and saw a monster. No, not a monster. I saw the sigil on its chin. It's a Heartless!

'_**That's not good! It's a Storm Rider!**_' Voice informed me.

"Storm Rider?" I repeated out loud.

'_**A Heartless that rides the wind and generates electricity similiar to lightning storms!**_'

When I heard that, I assumed that it will create a horrible storm that will destroy the ship and kill us! Not wanting that to happen, I ran towards the Heartless, only to remember that I had my flying Dream Eaters to go and find an island near us so we can get Nami better.

"Men! Stay on this ship and protect it and Nami!" I heard Luffy ordered. "We can't risk getting this ship damage before our navigator gets better!"

"Aye-aye!" my crewmates agreed. Usopp and Vivi went to the girl's bedroom to watch over Nami while Zoro and Sanji stayed on deck to help Luffy beat the Heartless.

"Ah! Xion! Great timing!" Luffy said, as he grab hold of the railing and moving back. "Hop on! We're going to beat that thing!"

Obeying that order, I nervously grab hold of him as he rocketed us to the Heartless. "**Gomu Gomu no Rocket!**" With some miracle or luck, we landed safely on the Storm Rider.

'_**Take out its wings so it won't be able to fly,**_' Voice told me.

"Luffy! Let's take out its wings first so it won't do that much damage on the Going Merry!" I told my captain.

"Okay! You take that side!" he ordered me, pointing the Heartless right wing. With that, we took the wings out by attacking the blue horns. It seems to be the thing that keeps it connected to the wing, so I assumed that I should attack it. It wasn't easy, since it was flying around, attacking the ship, and doing flips to try to force us off.

After I finally destroyed its horn, I turned to Luffy's side just in time to see that he destroyed the horn on his side as well. Once I did, the Storm Rider suddenly just started to fall. I couldn't react in time to grab one of its spike and fell as well. Luffy used his rubber powers and caught me. He then used his powers to bring us to the falling Storm Rider's back. Luckily for us, the said monster isn't falling back-first.

Once it landed in the ocean, Luffy and I started to attack its head before it can get back up. Just in case if those wings heal as we attack it, I froze them with my Blizzaga.

"Xion! Get back!" Luffy ordered me.

"Why?" I asked, backing away from him.

Rather than answering my question, the rubberman ran all the way near the Storm Rider's tail and came back with an attack. "**Gomu Gomu no Cannon!**" he yelled, as he gave off quick punches on the Heartless's head. Once he got to it, he finished it with a single double palm-blow, similiar to his bazooka attack. Of course, that wasn't enough to beat it, yet. "Xion! Finish it!" came Luffy's orders.

"Okay!" I replied, running to the head to deliver the final blow. "**Blade Rush!**" I struck the Heartless with a flurry of attacks, destroying it. The down side, however, is that I have to save my captain from being drowned due to the side effect of being a devil fruit user.

Once we got back to the ship, I began to apologize. "I'm sorry. I meant what I said, but I didn't mean it in a way saying that I don't want to be with you guys anymore."

"It's okay," Luffy said.

"We already know that we've been relying on you a little too much, anyway," Usopp stated. "We shouldn't trust you for everything."

"He's right," Sanji agreed. "Right now, we have Nami to think about. So until she gets better, we won't ask you for anything else."

"Yeah. You're right," I said.

"Oh and by the way," Usopp spoke. "Vivi said that we have to hurry to an island to get Nami better so we can hurry on to Arabasta."

"I was already ahead of her on that. Why else did I call Wyvern, Fang and Torpedo out?"

"She knows that, but she's only saying that because of her country's situation. You know, so we won't think about what's more important."

"I see."

"Oi! Xion! That bat Dream Eater of yours is back!" Zoro informed.

"Really?!" I ran over to the railing and Fang landed on my shoulder. "Fang! You found an island?" My Dream Eater nodded his head. "All right! I'm calling back Wyvern and Torpedo. And you lead us to the island." That said, I called back my two Dream Eaters from their search and the Komory Bat lead the ship to the island that it found. I called Lapin and told her to try to follow Fang instead of following the Eternal Pose. If Fang found the island within hours, it might take the ship a day or two to get to it.


	11. Arrived at an Unwelcome Winter Island

**A/N: Partial credit goes to EvanderAdvent.**

* * *

It's been two days since Fang came back after he found an island close to our current destination, and we haven't seen it yet. The season of the island that Fang found seems to be a winter island. Everyone, excluding Luffy, were wearing something to keep them warm. For some reason, though, I don't feel cold at all, and I'm just wearing my black coat. As for Luffy, I don't know how he's able to withstand the cold in only his vest, short jeans and sandals.

Not that I'm trying to jinx it, but I hope we can get to the island's doctor before Nami dies from her sickness. Speaking of the poor girl, her fever hasn't gone down. In fact, it just slowly gets worse. And I don't know why, but seeing her right now in bed, it reminds me of someone. Did I take care of someone who has the same disease that Nami has? I wish I knew.

"Vivi-chan, Xion-san, what are we going to do?!" Sanji asked, panicking. He's been like this for quite a while and making my head explode! And the princess even kept telling him to keep quiet! "Nami-san's fever isn't going down!"

'_**She's going to die! I can just tell that she's going to die!**_' I seem to have forgotten to mention that Carue is also panicking about this.

"If you two aren't going to help out, then get the hell out!" I shouted, kicking the two annoying beings out, hard. "God, those yahoos."

"Feeling like a mother again?" the princess asked.

"I guess." I noticed her confused face. "Seeing Nami right now, I feel like I'm watching over someone else. Someone close to me."

"Maybe another one of your memory is coming back."

"That's what I'm starting to think. But that memory is a little blurry. I can't remember who it it that I was watching over."

"It will come to you. At least, I hope so."

Hearing those words, I smiled a bit. I know she's trying to cheer me up, and for that, I'm happy that she is. "Thanks for looking at the bright side for me," I said.

All of a sudden, the ship was shaking. I held Nami down on her bed to prevent her from getting any minor injuries. Princess Vivi noticed what I was doing and helped me hold her down.

* * *

"Where is all this shaking coming from?!" she asked.

"Guys! What's happening out there?!" I questioned.

"Maaahahaha! Surprised, aren't you?!" a voice that I don't know asked. "This is my Giant Diving Ambush Ship: The Bliking! Maaahahaha! Maaahahaha!"

Becoming a little worried about the situation, I ran out of the room. "Princess Vivi! Watch over Nami!"

"Sure," I heard her say.

"What's going on here?!" I asked. Somehow, I wasn't surprised with the scene before me. Everyone, and I mean everyone on deck and on the crow's nest, were surrounded by men with guns pointing at them. I couldn't tell if they were pirates, until I saw a ship in front of ours. "Say... How did these guys got on Merry?" I asked.

"Don't know," Luffy replied. "It just happened." The moment he answered that, I got in the same situation as my crewmates.

"Are you lowlifes really pirates? You're just a bunch of weirdos. Looks like there are five of you," I turned and faced the source of the voice, assuming that it's the captain of the opposing crew's ship. When I did, I saw a really fat man eating meat on a knife! And he's even eating the knife itself! Here I thought Luffy's appetite is weird.

"No matter how you look at it, that's just not enough for a pirate crew," the fat man stated, eating the rest of the knife. And yes, I was serious about the knife. Just watching him eat it and hearing the sound of him eating the knife is enough to bring pain in my mouth. "Ah well... Might as well ask," he said. "We're heading to the Drum Kingdom. Would you happen to have an Eternal Pose or even a Log Pose on you?"

"Are you saying you lost your Log Pose?" I asked. "Sorry, but I'm afraid we don't have an Eternal Pose to Drum Kingdom." '_And yet it sounds familiar,_' I mentally added. I can't help but feel like I've heard of that place.

"There! That's all, right?" Luffy asked. "Now get out of here already. We're in a hurry here. Ain't got time to waste with you."

"Ah, don't rush your life so much," the guy said. "If you don't have one, that's that. However, I'll be taking your treasure and you ship."

'_I can't believe how calm he is when he's saying that,_' I thought.

"But before I do, I'm feeling mite pekish." The moment he said that, he turned to one side of the ship, AND STARTED TO EAT IT! WHAT KIND OF A HUMAN EATS A SHIP?!

"What kind of human is he?!" Usopp voiced out half of my thoughts.

"Don't eat our ship!"

"Don't you dare move! Wapol-sama is enjoying his meal!" one of the guy's crewmates warned.

"I don't care if he enjoys eating Merry," I spoke. "However, you are all wasting our time here!" As I said that, I summoned Warrior's Pride and attacked the pirates around me with a spin attack. Sadly for them, it didn't matter which way I spun, the results will be a slash in the chest. Soon, the rest of my crewmates out here joined me in this fight.

While Zoro, Sanji and I were fighting the weaklings, Usopp trying not to get involve with the fight, Luffy went after the captain, known as Wapol. The least expected thing that happened, WAS THAT HE WAS EATEN! However, his arms were stretched away. By the looks of the position, it seems that he's going to attack him with his bazooka while he's still in Wapol's mouth.

A second after Princess Vivi came out to see what's going on, Luffy sent the guy flying, forcing him to spit the rubberman out of his mouth. Knowing that the job here is done, I walked back in the girls room and continued to watch over Nami. The only words I heard from the opposing pirate crew as I walked in were, "Wapol-sama is a Hammer in the water!" "We shall return for retribution!" and "Remember us!"

'_Speaking of which, I feel like I heard of the name Wapol,_' I thought. '_And as for Drum Kingdom, why do I have a feeling like I know that place?_'

"Xion..." I heard Nami speak. "What happened... out there?"

"Nothing really," I told her. "We just ran into a pirate ship. Luffy blew their captain away, so they all retreated."

"Heheh... I see..."

"You need to rest, Nami. Don't worry about what's happening; worry about yourself." The navigator nodded her head and continued to sleep.

* * *

As much as I want to watch the sunset, Nami's condition is getting worse. She's breathing hard and her fever is getting even worse. I read the medical books about her situation, but none of them tells us about the disease that she has right now. I feel so useless!

"I bet... she's real hungry," Luffy guessed. "How about if she eats 100 helpings of meat!? If she eats some meat, she'll get better in no time!" Him thinking that food are cures already made me pop a vessel and kick him out of the room, _again_! I swear, I will lose my mind if someone doesn't do anything to help me and Princess Vivi help Nami get better! Why didn't they recruit a doctor on their ship again?!

"Xion..." I heard the said princess call. "I understand how you feel, but please know that Luffy's trying to help."

"Yes. I know that, but he should know by now that meat isn't the solution for everything. We told him hundreds of times that it isn't. And I can hardly sleep with this going on. I just hope we get to that island soon. Here I thought we can get there in less than two days. But Fang came back because of the cold weather. Than again, it is a sign that we are somewhere close to the island."

"But man, the sun's going down, girls," Sanji told us.

"We should drop the anchor somewhere," Vivi suggested.

"No. We'll keep sailing," I said. "I'll switch Lapin with Wyvern again. Out of everyone in this crew, my Dream Eaters don't seem to mind being at the helm all day and night. And out of all my Dream Eaters, Lapin and Wyvern are the only two who can steer the helm. Besides, Fang is leading us to the island that he saw, even though he should be tired by now, he doesn't seem worn out. At least, that's what I heard from Usopp."

"Well, if you say so," Sanji said, as I left the room for a moment. I looked up at Fang to see that he's still leading the ship.

"Fang! Aren't you tired?" I asked. My bat Dream Eater flew down to me at the moment and shook his head no. "You sure? We can stop here after all."

'_**No...**_' I heard a voice say. I turned to find the source but saw no one. '_**Must... Nami... doctor...**_' I turned to Fang and wondered if I'm starting to understand Dream Eaters, because being a non-devil fruit user and still understand animals is a little weird.

"Well, if you insist," I said, having Fang to continue leading Lapin. Speaking of the said creature, I walked into the helm and swap the Majik Lapin with the Ryu Dragon. "Steer the helm and follow Fang," I told Wyvern, as he begun to have Merry follow Fang.

* * *

Night fell and everyone was in the girls' room, sleeping. I was the only one awake and switched the towel on Nami's forehead with a colder one. Once I did, she was awake.

"Hey there. You should stay asleep," I said. "Don't want your condition to get worse, do we?"

She looked behind me and saw the guys, except Sanji, who's not in the room, snoring.

"Oh, is that right? You really want my autograph that badly?" came Usopp's voice. His sudden question scared me and Nami.

"He's just sleep talking," I said. "Anyway, you're far from recovery, Nami. So you should go back to sleep."

"Yeah," she nodded, closing her eyes. "Say Xion. What did you remember? Back in Little Garden, I mean."

I was slightly caught off-guard when she asked that. Then again, I had a feeling that someone on this ship would ask what I remembered. "I remembered a boy. Two of them, actually. Everyday, the three of us would sit on top of a clock tower to eat ice cream and watch the sunset. And to me, each day were the best day of my life."

"Is that all? Because, after Zoro defeated that bombman, you acted like you're remembering a lot of things."

"Yeah. That's all," I lied. I can't tell her that Axel and I once fought or that I'm a replica. In fact, I don't know if I really am one, or if Axel was joking.

"Do you remember their names?"

"One of them. And his name is Axel." Satisfied with my answer, Nami went back to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, I was out on deck to see if there's an island in sight. According to the clear weather, unfortunately, it seems that we're no where near it. Disappointed that we have to wait a little longer to get to the island, I went back to the girls' room to continue watching over Nami.

"You're early," I said, as I saw Usopp carrying some woods to fix Merry.

"Not as early as you are," he said.

"I didn't wake up early; I just didn't sleep at all last night."

"Mother habit?"

"Guess you could call it that right now." After that conversation, I walked back in and saw that only Luffy and Nami are in the room. The said rubberman seems to be doing some drawings on his own face. After he was done, he stretched his face.

"What are you doing?" I asked. When he looked at me, HIS FACE BECAME A LITTLE CREEPY WITH ALL THE MAKE UP ON HIM! I lost my balance at the sight and scolded Luffy. "Just what are you doing?!"

"I'm trying to make Nami smile," he simply told me.

"Look here..." I spoke, feeling that another blood vessel of mine would pop. "THAT FACE WOULD SCARE PEOPLE INSTEAD OF MAKING THEM SMILE!" With that, I kick the boy out, AGAIN! At this rate, I'll probably turn into Sanji.

"My god. Once you're all better, I'm going to need a lot of sleep," I told Nami.

"ISLAND HO!" came Sanji's voice.

"Now we're getting somewhere." I walked out of the room and saw that the island is white. I then saw some strange images. There were only a few and were a little blurry so I don't know what they were about or who were in them. I can make out what the background of those images were, however. And they seem similar to the island ahead of us.

'_What were those images just now?_' I wondered. '_Can it be that... I've been to that island before? Or is it that... that island is... No. I can't be so sure about it. I'll find out once-_'

'_**This presence...**_' came a voice in my head, interrupting my thoughts. '_**Finally... You've come back...**_'

'_Come back?_' I mentally repeated.

'**_I've been waiting all this time for you to return... And now the wait can end..._**'

I decided to find out what the voice meant once we get to the island. I then turned to Fang and called him down.

"Thanks for guiding the ship all the way over here," I said. The Komory Bat seems embarrassed at the comment. "Go back in your card and get as much rest as you want." That said, the bat Dream Eater went back in his card.

When we arrived on the island, it's all covered in snow. Luffy was really happy to be here because the island is covered in snow. One thing that bothers me about this island are the mountains. They're extremely tall and looks a lot like pillars. How can anyone climb those mountains?

"Xion!" came a voice, snapping me out of my thoughts. The voice came from Usopp. "Are you all right? You've gotten all spacy."

"I'm okay, Usopp. I was just thinking," I assured him.

"Okay. But are you sure that you should be out here?"

"We're here on the island that Fang found, aren't we? So it won't be long until we find ourselves a doctor for Nami. And hopefully, we'll have him or her join us."

"Why?" Usopp, Sanji and Luffy, the two who listened to our conversation, asked.

"Shouldn't the answer be obvious?" I asked back. They got the hint when I asked that question. I walked to the bathroom to splash some cold water on my face. "Why do I have a bad feeling about what's going to happen while we're on this island?" I asked myself. I splashed some more water on my face to get myself out of the negative world and look at the bright side.

'_No, Xion. Look at the bright side. Whatever your instincts are telling you are either lies or false alarms,_' I convinced myself. My mind then automatically went back to what the voice said. I still wondered what he meant when he said that. Placing the thought on the back of my head, I wiped my face and was about to walk outside, when I heard voices out there.

They all sound unwelcoming. It made me wonder why. Then again, we're pirates, so this should be normal. I then heard a gunshot and slammed the door open. "What's going on here?!" I demanded. I then heard another gunshot and, out of instinct, leaned my head to the left to avoid getting my heat shot. "What the hell?! I understand that you hate pirates, but you can't shoot us if we didn't do anything wrong yet!"

"Sh-shut up, you filthy pirate!" one of the snipers shouted.

"Idiot! Take back what you just said!" ordered a man with a goatee and armor plates on his arms. It made me assume that he's the leader. Many people looked at him in confusion.

"What are you talking about, Dalton?" "That girl is a pirate like them!" "Why do you want him to take back what he said about her?!"

"Hey, girl..." he spoke, ignoring the islanders' words. "Aren't you... Xion?"

All the people that resides on this island had a shock look on their faces when he asked that. One question from me: how did he know my name?


	12. Memories Reminded, Somewhat

**A/N: Partial credit goes to EvanderAdvent.**

* * *

_Last time:_

_"Sh-shut up, you filthy pirate!" one of the snipers shouted._

_"Idiot! Take back what you just said!" ordered a man with a goatee and armor plates on his arms. It made me assume that he's the leader. Many people looked at him in confusion._

_"What are you talking about, Dalton?" "That girl is a pirate like them!" "Why do you want him to take back what he said about her?!"_

_"Hey, girl..." he spoke, ignoring the islanders' words. "Aren't you... Xion?"_

_All the people that resides on this island had a shock look on their faces when he asked that. One question from me: how did he know my name?_

* * *

The crew and I followed Dalton up the snowy mountain. Sanji was carrying Nami on his back as we walk to Dalton's village. As for Zoro and Carue, we all had them stay on the ship and watch over it.

"I should warn you. Our country has only one doctor, a witch," he informed us.

"A witch?" Usopp repeated.

'**_The witch is also a friend of yours,_**' the voice from earlier told me.

"What the hell? This country sure is weird," Sanji stated. "What the hell _is_ this country anyway?"

"Sanji!" I called, glaring at him. "Please excuse him, Dalton."

"Don't worry about it, Xion. I still can't believe that you lost your memories. But it's good enough to know that you're alive," he said. "And as for your friend's question, this country does not yet have a name."

"A country without a name? Can there be such a thing?" Princess Vivi asked.

"AHHHH! A BEAR!" Usopp screamed. "Everyone! Play dead!" As he said, a bear was walking our way. The weird thing about this bear is that it's walking on two legs and that it has a walking stick.

"It's a Hiking Bear," Dalton informed. "It's not dangerous. Just bow to him in a mountain-climbing manner." We all did as told and bowed as we walked pass the bear.

How did this happen? Well...

* * *

_***FLASHBACK***_

"Xion?" "Does he mean that Xion?" "Now that I think about it, she does look like her." "She doesn't _look_ like her; she _is_ her!"

After Dalton asked if my name was Xion, all the islanders began a conversation about me.

"You are Xion, aren't you?" he asked me. "The Xion who wields a key-like weapon? You are her, aren't you?"

"Hey, you! If you're thinking about stealing my First Mate, think again!" Luffy warned, obviously getting the wrong idea.

"Yeah. That's me," I answered Dalton's question. I even summoned my Keyblade to prove that I am me. I then heard gasps from the people around us as I did.

"So it is you," I heard the leader mutter. "Everyone! Drop your weapons at once! Our country's saviour has return!" At that order, everyone actually dropped their weapon and cheered, bringing confusion to my and my crewmates' faces.

"Hey, Xion. What's going on here?" Zoro asked.

"How should I know? I don't remember anything, remember?" I asked back.

"But you regained some memories, didn't you?"

"None that are about this island, unfortunately."

"Oh. Okay than." While we were having our conversation, Dalton got on our ship.

"It really is you," he said, walking up to me. "How are you? You have no idea how worried we all were when you last visited this country and said that it would be the last time you will visit here."

"I'm sorry, but did you say that I visited this country more than once?" I asked.

"Of course, when you're on a mission here or when you have time. Why did you ask?"

Before I could say anything, Luffy interrupted our conversation. "EHHH?! Xion! You live here in the Grand Line?! Why didn't you say so?!"

"Did you already forget about the fact that I don't have any memories about my past?!" I questioned, showing shark-like teeth as I glared at the rubber idiot.

"No memories about your past?" Dalton repeated. "So you mean... you don't remember anything about this country?"

I looked down and nodded in guilt. "I lost my memories months ago," I said. "The only things that I remember as I traveled with my nakama were my name and a friend named Axel."

It seems that everyone heard our conversation, for it was very quiet at the moment. The silence was broken when Dalton spoke.

"Well, it's good enough to know that you're alive," he said, as he walked up to hug me. "We really missed you." Despite feeling uncomfortable about the current situation, I hugged Dalton back after I called back my Keyblade. "Now then, why are you here? And on a pirate ship?" he asked me, pulling away from the hug.

"I already told you why I'm on a pirate ship. And the reason I'm here is because one of my nakama is suffering from an illness." He seemed shock when I said that. "Please! This country has a doctor, doesn't it?! If you don't want us to leave, we can! We already have an Eternal Pose to another country. But please! Before we go, SAVE NAMI!" I begged, as I gripped his green coat. I was so desperate to have Nami get better. I feel like she's more than just a cremate, like she's my best friend, or a sister.

Dalton seemed to understand the situation and sighed. "I understand. I'll lead you and your nakama to our village." I smiled at those words and Luffy happily cheered. "However, can I really trust these pirates?" he then asked.

"You trust me, don't you?" I asked back. "I assure you..."

"Dalton," he introduced.

"I assure you, Dalton. They won't do anything that would harm this country's people. Except maybe Luffy."

"Why me?!" the said pirate asked.

"Can I really trust that someone like you wouldn't somehow get us in trouble? Don't tell me you forgot about all the crazy stuff that happened even before we got to the Grand Line." I saw that he had the look that says, 'did we really do crazy stuff?' and face-palmed. "On second thought, don't answer that."

"Well then, should we get going, Xion?" Dalton asked me.

"Yeah," I nodded. "Sanji, could you get Nami?"

"Leave it to me," the chef replied.

* * *

_***END OF FLASHBACK***_

"This is our village, Bighorn," Dalton introduced, as we arrived at his village.

"There's some pretty weird animals walking around here," Luffy stated.

"Just what you'd expect from a snowy country," Usopp complimented.

"Nami-san! We've reached civilization!" Sanji told the sickly.

"Well, thanks for your help everyone," Dalton told the villagers that were with us. "Anyone not on lookout, please return to work."

"But will you be all right by yourself, Dalton-san?" a villager asked. "They're pirates, you know."

"I won't be by myself. Don't forget that Xion is also with us. Besides, if these pirates are her allies, then they should mean us no harm," he told him. When he said that, it got all their hopes up.

"Well then, Dalton-san, we'll leave it to you." With that, they all left.

"Xion sure has a reputation here," Luffy said.

"I'll say, to be called this country's saviour," Usopp agreed. "Just what did you do to call yourself that?"

"I wish I knew," I said.

"I'll explain everything at my place," Dalton told us, gesturing that we follow him to his house.

"Ah! Look Luffy! Another Hiking Bear!" Usopp told the captain. What he assumed was a hiking bear was actually a human the size of a hiking bear.

"Ah, Dalton-san. I heard some pirates have landed. Is everything all right?" she asked.

"Yes, everything is under control. There's no need for concern," he replied.

The Hiking Bear-like human than looked at me and had a shocked look on her face. "Oh my. Can it be?!" she then ran over to me and placed her stuff down. She then examined my face. "Oh it is! She's come back! Everyone! Our saviour! She's returned!" Everyone else stopped whatever they were doing and ran over to me. Like the Hiking-Bear-look-alike, they all examined me and were extremely happy to see me.

"Xion! It's been a while!" "I knew you were joking when you said that after that last visit, you wouldn't return." They huddled around me and began to question me. Like where I was since the last time I visited or if they can come with me to help me with my 'mission'.

"Everyone! I know you are all happy to see Xion again," Dalton spoke, having everyone to stop the questions and give me some room. "However, it seems that some time after her last visit here, she lost her memories about coming here." Those words got everyone to widen their eyes. "Which is why, that I suggest we all should give her some room and save our questions until she regains all of her memories about being on this island."

Everyone agreed to Dalton's suggestion and left me alone. Well, almost everyone. There were a few kids who wanted to give me something before they could go back with their parents. I bent down to their level and held out my hand. In my hand, they placed a doll that looks like me.

'_What did I do to deserve a doll that looks like me?_' I wonder.

'_**It will come back to you,**_' the voice said.

"You're really confuse, aren't you?" Dalton asked me.

"How can I not?" I asked back.

"Anyway, let's go to my place."

When we arrived at Dalton's home and entered, he lent us a bed for Nami to sleep in as he gets the room all warmed up. "I would like to reintroduce myself," he said. "My name is Dalton. I am this island's Captain of the Guard. Please excuse our hostile reception." He then turned to Princess Vivi. "May I ask you something? I believe I have met you somewhere before."

The princess flinched when he said that. "I-i'm sure it's just your imagination!" she stuttered. "More importantly, could you tell us more about this 'witch'? Earlier, Nami-san's temperature rose to 42 degrees Celsius."

"42 degrees?" Dalton repeated.

"Her temperature has been rising steadily these past three days," I said. "If it goes any higher, she'll die. The problem is that we don't know what's causing her sickness or how to treat it."

"And that doesn't matter! There's a doctor here!" Sanji added. "Where's this 'witch' of yours?!"

"The 'witch'... Do you see the mountains outside that window?" Dalton asked. We all look out the window to instead see a snowman.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?! DID YOU FORGET OUR MAIN GOAL HERE?!" I questioned.

"Those mountains are the Drum Rockies," Dalton continued to explain. "You can see a castle atop the peak of the tallest, central mountain."

"A castle?" Usopp repeated.

"It's a castle without a king."

"Yeah. I see it," Sanji said.

"Is there something about that castle?" Princess Vivi asked Dalton.

"The woman the people call a witch, the sole doctor of our country, Dr. Kureha lives in that castle," he told us.

"What?! Of all places, why does she live all the way up there?!" our chef asked. "Fine just call her down than! This is an emergency!"

"Even if we wanted to, there is no way of contacting her."

"And she's suppose to be a doctor?! What kind of a doctor is she?!"

"There's no denying her skill as a doctor, but she is a rather strange old woman. She has lived a long life of nearly 140 years."

"140?! And she's still alive?!" I asked.

"They say she likes umeboshi."

"Okay, then what happens if someone in this country is sick or hurt?"

"She comes down the mountain of her own free will. She searches for patients, treats them and then takes whatever she wants from their homes as compensation before leaving again."

'_**Sounds like a pirate, doesn't she?**_' the voice stated.

"But how does such an old woman get down from that mountain?" Princess Vivi questioned.

"It's just a rumor, but several eyewitnesses have reported that, on moonlit nights, she takes to the sky in a sleigh and rides down. That is a reason why she is called a witch. They also say a strange creature comes with her, the likes of which they've never seen." When he said that, Usopp started to panic and say things about an abominable snowman.

'_**And you were also friends with the creature.**_'

"The thing is, Xion is friends with both Dr. Kureha and the strange creature," Dalton voiced out the voice's words. "And I don't know how, but she mostly goes up there on that mountain to visit the two, whenever she's here."

"XION! What were you doing with a witch and an abominable snowman?!" Usopp shrieked.

"How should I know?! Do I have to keep reminding you that I don't remember a single damn thing about being on this island?!" I snapped.

"Dr. Kureha may be our only doctor, but she does not wish to have a close relationship with us. All we can do is wait for the next day she decides to come down that mountain," Dalton added.

"We don't have time to wait for another day! Nami is dying from her sickness! If she's not going to come down here, then I'll go up that mountain and drag her down! I don't care if she is old, Nami is going to die if she doesn't get treated soon! Not wanting to have any close relationship with anyone but me? Screw that! But since I'm a friend of hers, then I should be able to convince her to get off that mountain and treat Nami!"

"Oi, Nami! Nami! Can you hear me?" Luffy asked, lightly slapping the sick girl in the face.

"HEY! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" we all asked, teeth being sharp.

"Oh, you're awake!" he exclaimed, ignoring us. "Listen, you can't see a doctor unless we climb a mountain. So we're going mountain climbing."

"Are you insane?! What are you trying to make Nami-san do?!" Sanji snapped.

"It's okay. I'll carry her."

"Even so, her condition will still get worse!" I reasoned.

"What? The sooner we see the doctor, the better, right?"

"That's true, but not like this! Those mountains are like pillars!"

"Then why don't we use your Dream Eaters?"

"None of them can stand the cold! Are you stupid?!"

As we argued, Nami was trying to say something. I noticed and had everyone to quiet down.

"I have to... get better soon..." she breathed. "Soon... for Vivi's sake... Take care of me, Captain."

We were all shocked to hear that she would risk her own health to get better. All except for Luffy, that is. "You got it! Leave it to me!"

I sighed in defeat at this. "I guess it can't be helped now. Fine then, but I'm coming with you," I declared.

"I've had it. As soon as the Captain says something, the Navigator and First Mate goes along with it!" Usopp complained.

"Do you know what kind of condition you're in, Nami-san?" Sanji asked.

"Will you really be okay? This trip may take hours," Vivi said.

"Ossan! Gimme some meat. Meat!" Luffy demanded.

"Then I'm going too," our cook decided.

"Xion. May we talk for a moment?" Dalton asked, as the rest of my crew gave Luffy advice about how to bring a sick person to a doctor on a cold day. I followed him outside, behind his house.

"What is it, Dalton?" I asked.

"I found this while you were gone. And something tells me that you need it more than anyone else." He took something out of his pocket and gave it to me. I accepted it and saw that it was another Dream Eater Recipe!

"Where did you-?!"

"Find it? Some time after your last visit, a lot of those creatures you called Heartless came out of nowhere and attacked us. Despite the fact that we were no match for them, none of us gave up because we all believed that you were either lying about that being you last and final visit here or that you were wrong about it being the last time to come here. After that, we somehow defeated the Heartless and that appeared before me. I then heard a voice saying that I should give it to a certain Keyblade wielder. And I instantly knew that he was talking about you."

"Thanks, Dalton," I said. "I'm sure that whatever Dream Eater will be born from this recipe will make a great ally." I then read the ingredients needed to create this Dream Eater and took out the needed things to create it. Yes, I brought my bag of Dream Eater ingredients. How could I not when I heard that voice from earlier?

Anyway, I did the routine and the Dream Eater that was reborn from those ingredients was a penguin. The face and belly are vanilla in color, with a blue 'jacket', with a pink-red edge, covering its wings, back, and the top of its head. The eyes are yellow with pupils that looks like an upward facing arrow and orange-colored flippers and beak. It also has goggles that are blue-green along the lengths and pink at the ends. A ring of sky blue orbs around its neck resembles a thick insulated scarf, and the feathers attached to its wings are colorful. This Dream Eater is known as Iceguin Ace.

"So now we have a penguin in our group. Nice!" I stated. "And your name will be Ace. Welcome aboard!" The penguin seemed happy with the name and with the welcome. "Mind going back in your card? I'll call you when you're needed the most." The Iceguin Ace Dream Eater nodded its head and went in a card. "Now I'm ready to go. Thanks again for giving me the Dream Eater Recipe, Dalton."

"Well, of course. It's the least I can do after everything you did for us," he said. "Oh yes. Before I forget, not that I doubt your strength, but you should avoid using the shortest path to that mountain. It's inhabited by Lapahn. I know you'll be all right, but as for those two boys..."

"Don't worry. They may not look like it, but they're really strong." I then heard Luffy calling me. "Got to go, Dalton. Later."

"Good luck," he said. With that I left to go with Luffy and Sanji to Dr. Kureha's home.


	13. On Our Way to the Witch Doctor! Right?

**A/N: Partial credit goes to EvanderAdvent.**

* * *

As Luffy, Sanji and I ran as fast as we could to take Nami to Dr. Kureha, the two boys started to state facts about people and winter, like why they don't sleep in winter island or why the girls on winter island have pure white skin. I was a little surprised that Luffy knows the reason why people don't sleep out in the cold, yet had a stupid reason for why there was a bed in Dalton's house. I almost face-palmed when he said it was when Dalton's going to die. While they were talking, a little white rabbit was trying to attack us. I was going to stop it from trying to get a hit on Luffy, only to see that he can easily avoid the little guy. Sanji was easily avoiding the rabbit too. It made me wonder if they are psychics or something, but I shouldn't be the one to talk, since I was also easily evading the small animal.

"And also..." Sanji spoke, as the white rabbit came for an attack on him. "...YOU'RE BEING A REAL PAIN IN THE ASS!" he shouted, kicking it away.

"What the heck's his problem?" Luffy questioned.

"The poor thing..." I muttered, as we continued our way to the doctor.

"Nami-san, just hold on a little longer," Sanji told the sick girl. "We're gonna get you to this doctor!"

"The snow's pretty deep around here..." Luffy stated.

"Must've snowed a lot here," I guessed.

"Oi, Luffy! Run more gently, will ya? You're gonna jostle Nami-san's body!" Sanji warned and scolded the rubberman.

As we ran, we came across some obstacles. What are those obstacles, you asked? A pack of big, white rabbits. No, wait, let me correct myself; it's a pack of Lapahns that are in our way.

"What the hell are these?" Sanji asked.

"They're big and they're white... Must be polar bears! Definitely!" Luffy guessed.

"Polar bears don't have rabbit ears," I corrected.

'_**Are those the ones, my son?**_' I heard a Lapahn's voice ask.

'_Son?_'

'_**That's right, daddy.**_' When I looked for the source of the other voice, the one that sounded like a child, I saw the little rabbit from earlier. The one that Sanji kicked.

"Oh that's not good," I muttered.

* * *

**_*MEANWHILE, BACK IN THE VILLAGE**GENERAL'S P.O.V*_**

While Luffy, Sanji and Xion went to take Nami to the only doctor on the island, Dalton was telling Usopp and Vivi how he knows Xion and what happened to the island's doctors.

"We used to have them. The doctors. But they're all gone. They were all extremely skillful doctors," Dalton told the two. "In truth, they were said to provide the highest quality medical care possible."

"Then, why...?" Vivi began to question.

"This country, not less than a year ago, was completely ravaged, at the hand a pirate crew..."

"The whole country?!" Usopp gasped in shock.

"That explains why you were so nervous when we arrived," Vivi spoke.

"Yes. The citizens are not yet ready to hear the word 'pirate' again," Dalton continued. "You must excuse their behaviors. It was a pirate crew of only five members. Their captain called himself 'Blackbeard'. And with power vaguely surpassing our own, he almost ravaged the entire country."

"A mere five pirates... You can't be serious!" the princess spoke, even more shock that the whole country was almost ravaged by a crew of five pirates.

"Blackbeard..." Usopp repeated the name of the captain.

"However, some would say it was good for this country," Dalton added.

"How can a wreckage of your country be a good thing?!"

"Yeah! Who could possibly say that?!"

Rather than answering their questions, Dalton looked up and thanked them. "Thank you. But while that is true, until that time, the monarchy of this country had been causing misery for the people. The former name of this country is the Drum Kingdom. And our former king was... Wapol. He was the worst king imaginable."

When he said the name of their former king, Usopp and Vivi began to remember the pirate that was feeding on their ship.

"Yes, that man! I remember!" Vivi exclaimed.

"Wapol?!" Usopp spoke the name of that pirate.

Dalton was surprised that they know the man who was once their country's king. "You two... You know Wapol?!"

"Well, not really 'know', but that was the name of this pirate who attacked our ship," Usopp explained. "I fought him off though. Now that I think about it, he did mention something about going to the Drum Kingdom."

"Yes. He's right. I remember it clearly," Vivi agreed, bringing up her past. "When I was a child, I accompanied my father to the Council of Kings. I saw him there."

The moment she mentioned the Council of Kings, Dalton became more curious about her. "The Council of Kings? Just who are you...?"

At that question, Vivi noticed that she said something she shouldn't have said. "No, well, I... In any case, we did meet Wapol! It was yesterday, on our way here!"

"Yesterday? Are you certain?" Dalton asked.

"But then, what could that mean? He called himself a pirate, not a king."

"He is using piracy as a temporary camouflage. Wapol is drifting around the sea, trying to make his way back to this island."

"Then the people on his ship must've been those chased away because they couldn't stand up to Blackbeard Pirates that attacked your island."

"Couldn't stand up to!?" Dalton repeated, in an unforgiving tone. "No! Back then, Wapol's forces didn't even _try_ to fight back!" That statement got Vivi and Usopp even more shocked to hear that a king didn't have his men fight against a group of pirates. "The moment he became aware of the pirates' strength, he immediately abandoned this country! Wapol was the first to flee to the ocean and escaped! That was what caught the country to fall into despair! Is that how a-"

"IS THAT HOW A COUNTRY'S KING SHOULD ACT?!" Vivi took Dalton's question, furious about what Wapol did when his own country was going to be attacked by pirates. "How hideous... A king that abandons his people..." Usopp looked at Vivi, a little shock at the princess's reaction to this.

"As you say. But now that Wapol's tyranny is over, the remaining citizens have united to build their own country. Now the one thing we fear most is Wapol's return. The restoration of the monarchy. With the people so insecure, we must prevent that. In order to realize a new country of peace. And now that Xion returns here, if what you say is true, Wapol must know where the island is by now and we don't have to worry about his return."

"Speaking of Xion, how did you all know her? Why is she known as this country's savior? And also, you said that those Blackbeard Pirates almost ravaged this country, what do you mean by that?" Usopp asked.

Dalton smiled when the sniper asked that, as he looked up at the sky. "I remember it like it was yesterday. On the day that those pirates arrived on our island to search for another doctor to join their crew, after Wapol took his soldiers and all the doctors and fled from here, that was when she came." Usopp and Vivi got interested in the story.

"After Wapol left this island, the pirates searched all over this island to search for the witch. If they couldn't find a doctor on any of the villages, they just took all their money and food in exchange for the people's lives. When he found Dr. Kureha in this village, he used force to have her join. When he was about to do so, a weird creature showed up and was protecting her. He was about to attack it as well, but Xion jumped in and fought him."

"Xion fought against Blackbeard?!" Usopp and Vivi asked.

"Not just him. His crewmates joined the battle as well. And some strange creatures." The added information got the two pirates, well pirate and temporary pirate, even more interested about Xion's past on the unnamed island. "It was a long battle. And in the end, it was her against the captain. Xion looked like she was going to collapse soon, however. Yet in the end, she won. I didn't understand why at that time, but she then made those pirates leave the island and give back eveything they took from the villages of this island. Those pirates reluctantly agreed to leave and never came back. The moment they were out of this island's sight, she collapsed. Dr. Kureha brought her to the castle give Xion treatment in exchange for saving her and this country. After that, she's been visiting this place a lot, whenever she had time to visit us, that is. I noticed that she always brings some sweets when she did, giving most of it to the children here. After that, she goes to the castle to visit Dr. Kureha. Why she goes to visit the witch and take some leftover sweets to her, I'll never know, especially since she lost her memories."

'_Not sure about the visits, but saving this village from a pirate crew, especially a strong one, sure sounds like Xion,_' Usopp and Vivi thought.

"But then... when she last visited this country, she had a sad look on her face. That was when she announced that that last visit, was the last time she will come here. Almost everyone asked if she was joking, but she was serious when she said that. Despite that, everyone had hope that Xion will come back to see us again. I thought that as well, until I asked if what she said was true. Do you know what she said to me when I asked?" Usopp and Vivi shook their head at this question. "She said, 'Dalton, I'm never going to return here. After this visit, I'm going back to where I really belong. You and everyone else will forget me when I do. I have nothing else to say. Even if you promise that you and the others won't forget me, you all will anyway.' I didn't understand what she meant when she said that. But now that she's back, I don't need to worry about why she said that or what she meant by it. And right now, there's no doubt that rumors will spread around the country about her return."

"But, with Xion gone to take Nami to the witch with Luffy and Sanji, how are you sure that she will come back in time to stop Wapol from bringing any harm to you, especially since the people here respects you and Xion more than him?" Usopp asked.

"There's no doubt that she won't come back in time, especially with the path they took to the castle. And knowing Wapol, he might go there to reclaim his throne," Dalton said. "If he heard rumors about Xion, there's no doubt that he and his soldiers will try to beat her in order to prevent her from taking his throne."

"But Xion won't stay here. She's a pirate now," Vivi reasoned.

"We all know that, but I doubt that Wapol is smart enough to realize that, when it comes to his position as king. Either way, if Xion can take out a group of strong pirates, and strange creatures, than she should be able to take down Wapol and his men."

'_He sure relies on her do beat that so-called king,_' Usopp and Vivi thought. '_More than enough proof that he's talking about our Xion._'

* * *

_***WITH XION AND CO.**XION'S P.O.V***_

We were running for our lives away from the big rabbits, who I realized were Laphans that Dalton was talking about. Well, Luffy did all the running while Sanji and I were beating up any Laphans that were trying to attack him. Why? Since he's carrying Nami, any damage he will give or recieve will be transported to our sick navigator and most likely cause her to die. So the chef and I were acting as defense mechanisms for our captain. As we were beating up these rabbits, I sneezed, messing up my fighting rhythm.

'_Someone must've talked about me,_' I thought. My thought and my sneeze almost caused me my life, for one of the Lapahns nearly killed me, if I hadn't blocked it with my Keyblade.

"With all the snow under my feet, I can't land any decent kicks!" Sanji complained, as he knocked out one of the big white rabbits.

'_That looks decent enough,_' I thought. When I saw the rest of the Lapahns ears twitch, THEY SUDDENLY ALL CAME AT ONCE!

"THEY'RE ALL COMING AT ONCE!" Luffy yelled.

"For now, head to the woods!" I shouted at the rubber captain. "Sanji and I will cover you!" Luffy ran to the said area with me and Sanji following behind him.

"Now go left! Straight to the mountain!" Sanji ordered, talking about the mountain with the castle.

"Got it!"

"The more time we waste in fighting these guys, the closer Nami is getting to death," I stated. "So for now, Luffy! Concentrate on going up to that mountain! When one of those Lapahns are going to attack you, just dodge them! Leave those rabbits to Sanji and me!"

"Got it!" That was his reply. However, when a Lapahn was going to attack Luffy, HE WAS GOING TO KICK IT AWAY! And he would've too, it Sanji and I didn't hold him back and kicked it away in his place.

"You idiot! Didn't we tell you not to attack them?!" Sanji questioned.

"Just run and dodge these rabbits!" I reminded.

"Sorry," he apologized.

"You should know by now that this is a life-and-death situation here!"

After a little while later, Luffy found a path for us to go to. A Lapahn was about to attack the rubberman, but he, Sanji and I used it to help us get to higher ground.

"This should be high enough to help us avoid those animals," I thought out loud. Luffy was relieved to hear that and made a face at the Lapahns, ONLY TO HELP THEM PROVE ME WRONG!

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!" Sanji scolded at Luffy.

"FOR NOW JUST KEEP RUNNING! RUN LIKE YOUR OWN LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!"

* * *

_***MEANWHILE, WITH DALTON AND THE OTHERS**GENERAL'S P.O.V***_

Dalton was talking to Usopp and Vivi, stating that he has never seen pirates as unprepared as them in the Grand Line. Usopp said that they thought of recruiting one when they get to this island. As they were talking, the woman that Usopp mistook for a Hiking Bear came.

"Oh, Dalton-san. Are you looking for Dr. Kureha?" she asked.

"Yes, that is correct. Xion and her friends took the sick person-"

"They said she just came down to the neighboring village Cocoaweed," she interrupted Dalton. A moment of silence came and ended by the said man and the two remaining pirates.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" they asked.

"THEY JUST MISSED EACH OTHER!" Usopp yelled, creating echoes of his voice.

* * *

_***IN COCOAWEED***_

In a bar in Cocoaweed, a young boy was crying really loud. His cries were disturbing his father's customers. The father asked the boy what the problem was, only to hear more crying. Outside of the bar, an old woman with the body of a teenager came with a blue-nose animal. She heard many people talk about her and her animal, as well as the father threatening to throw his son out of the bar if he doesn't tell him what was wrong.

"Oya, oya. What an awful dad that kid has. When a child does nothing but cry, it means he has an unhealthy body," she said, petting the creature next to her. "Heeheeheehee. Stand back, Chopper." The instant after she told the blue-nose creature, known as Chopper, what to do, she punched the door, breaking it.

Everyone in the bar looked at the front and were surprised to see who broke the door down.

"You're..." the barkeeper spoke, knowing who the old woman is.

"Ya happy, little brats? Heeheeheehee," she asked.

Everyone immediately distanced themselves from her, some flying out of their chairs, now that they know who the old lady is. "DR. KUREHA!" they all identified.

"The secret of my youth?"

"NO! WE DIDN'T ASK ABOUT THAT!"

"I just can't believe she's really a 140-year-old hag!" one of the customers stated, only to have Dr. Kureha throw a fork at a wall that he's leaning on, centimeters away from his face.

"I'm still 139!" she corrected. Her attention went back to the crying child. "Shall I fix him up?"

"Fix what?!" the father of the son asked, hugging his son. "My son's not sick at all!"

"... Are you a doctor?" she asked with a smirk on her face. "Then let's go, Chopper." With that, the doctor and her creature were about to walk out of the bar.

"P-please wait!" the father begged, changing his mind. "Help my son."

When he said that, Dr. Kureha and Chopper stopped in their tracks and began working with their patient.

"My hand... It hurts..." the boy complained, as Dr. Kureha lied the boy down on a table.

"Your hand, huh? Is that right?" she asked. "Then what about this?" She placed her thumb on one of his legs and pressed on it.

"AHH! MY LEG HURTS!" The scene that a doctor was giving her patients more pain sent everyone flying comically.

"Well look at that. You forgot all about the pain in your hand," the doctor stated.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" the father demanded.

"Ya happy? Happy? Good. Now lie down," Dr. Kureha said, ignoring the father.

"Hey!"

"Don't yell. I touched his leg lightly."

"But the sound was so loud," the barkeeper said, as she took the boy's pants off.

"He has pain in his hands and legs. He doesn't have a fever, but the affected area on his leg is swollen with a festering inflammation. It's gone far. His bone has a bacterial infection. Chopper, fetch me the antibiotic."

"Doctor... My son is...?" the barkeeper wanted to ask what was wrong with his son, as the blue-nose creature went to get the needed item for the patient.

"Treating this disease in its early stages is the key to survival. Don't worry, he'll recover," Kureha assured, spinning a scalpel. "Though naturally, he would've died."

"Died?!"

"I'll be making a few incisions, so be a brave boy."

"Hey, aren't you even going to anesthetize him?"

"Here's your shot," Dr. Kureha said, ignoring the father again and holding the boy up, only to have his head hit by Chopper's horn.

"DON'T DO THAT!" While she was treating the boy, everyone in the bar was watching in pain.

After the treatment, the boy was on a couch with his legs bandaged.

"My medicine works well," Dr. Kureha said. "There'll be no need for further treatment. Just wrap his legs tight with these bandages while he's resting." She tossed the bartender the said bandages. "After you fixed it, just keep it iced. Got it? As for the compensation, I'm running out of garbage bags and toilet papers. Also, I'll be taking all the umeshu and food you have here. And I want 50% of this pubs assets." Everyone was surprised at the price that she demanded for treating a child. "Chopper, take everything to the sleigh."

"W-wait a sceond! You can't be serious!" the barkeeper exclaimed. "Half of my assets?!"

All the customers than told him not to be fooled by the doctor and said that the boy was probably just crying. "DON'T TAKE ADVANTAGE OF PEOPLE'S WEAKNESS, OLD WITCH!" they all yelled.

Chopper was angered at all the insults they threw and growled.

"Down, Chopper," the doctor told the blue-nose creature.

"Granny," the boy called. "I feel a lot better now. Thank you."

Everyone, except for Kureha and Chopper, was shocked to hear that he was infected with a disease. "Oya. Looks like I got a good tip," she muttered. "I'll lower it to 49%."

"I'll pay for it. Thank you," the barkeeper thanked.

"Please wait!" the boy shouted.

"The secret of my youth?" Dr. Kureha asked.

"No it's not that. I heard from a few kids from a neighboring village. Our country's saviour, she came back." When the boy said that, Dr. Kureha and Chopper's eyes widened a little. "They saw her with a group of pirates. One of them is sick, though."

"Oya. Is that right?" Dr. Kureha asked, smirking again. "I'm lowering it to 40%. That's as low as I can give you now."

"Yes!" the boy's father replied.

"Boy. This happy, don't forget it. And thanks for the info."

"Okay! You're welcome!" her patient replied.

'_So she came back,_' Dr. Kureha thought as she and Chopper walked out of the bar. '_How long has it been since we last saw her? And she said she won't come back and that we would forget about her. Just what was that girl saying?_'

"Doctorine," a voice called, as she and Chopper walked back to the sleigh. "Do you think what that boy said is true?"

"Who knows? If she is here with a group of pirates, and with one of them sick, if I know her, she's probably heading to the castle. Let's go, Chopper." With that, the two went back to their home.

* * *

_***MEANWHILE, WITH XION AND THE OTHERS**XION'S P.O.V***_

"Did we lose them?" I asked, as Luffy, Sanji and I were panting after all that running.

"I think so," the cook replied. "Xion-san, you seem really tired. Would you like me to carry you?"

'_And just when I thought he wouldn't go all gentleman again,_' I said to myself. "I'm just fine, Sanji. Don't worry about me. You should worry more about Nami. She's the sick one, remember?"

"Yes, of course."

"Hey guys. What are those?" came Luffy's question. The two of us turned to where he's looking to see the one group of creatures that I hoped we wouldn't come across here.

"What are Heartless doing here?!" I asked. Although they are just small ice cubes, who knows what kind of damage they can do? "Anyway, Luffy, don't fight them. No matter what happens!"

"Yeah!" Sanji and I then went in to knock out all of the ice cubes, covering Luffy's back. Surprisingly, they are really easy to beat. All we did is give out a kick or a cut at them and they were destroyed.

After a little while of running, the three of us looked back to see if any of those Lapahns caught up while we were being occupied by the Heartless.

"Are those Lapahns still behind us?" I asked.

"No. Doesn't look like it," Sanji replied.

"Yosha! Guess we lost them!" Luffy happily said.

When I turned back to the way we were going, I wished he didn't say that. "Look again, Luffy," I informed the captain, having him and the chef to look at where I'm looking.

"WOW!" Why would he go 'wow!' at this situation?! Because they somehow got ahead of us?!

Well, good news is that they didn't attack us. Bad news? Well, I'm not sure if it is bad news, but I do have a bad feeling about why those animals were jumping. And their landing seemed really heavy.

"What are they doing?" the rubberman asked. I look around our surroundings in hope that they weren't doing what I thought they were. That hope went down the drain when I noticed exactly where we are.

"No way..." I muttered. "Don't tell me that..."

"What, Xion?"

"Luffy. Run."

"Where?"

"Anywhere is fine," Sanji replied to the straw hat boy, getting the same idea that I'm having. "Just get away from here!"

"They're... THEY'RE GONNA CAUSE AN AVALANCHE!"

* * *

_***A FEW HOURS EARLIER WITH VIVI, USOPP AND DALTON**GENERAL'S P.O.V***_

"Now tell us who _you_ are," Usopp demanded, as he, Vivi and Dalton were on their way to Cocoaweed on a sleigh. "You sure don't act like one of the normal villagers. In fact, when you talk, I smell a soldier."

"... I... served the former king..." Dalton hesitatedly replied. "I was Wapol's subordinates." The new info about Dalton was a big surprise to Usopp and Vivi. Dalton began to explain what happened to the former king and how Wapol got his throne. He then explained why there's only one doctor on their island, which was mostly Wapol's fault, saying that he wants only the top twenty doctors in his castle and exile the rest. Dalton was the only soldier who was concerned about everyone on the island when Wapol announced that. Yet, the 'king' only cared about himself.

"So, whoever got sick would have to make a deal with Wapol in order to see the Isshi-20?" Usopp summarized.

"And the cost for recieving medical treatment was enormous," the former soldier added.

"That's the same as governing by taking the townspeople hostage!" Vivi stated. "That's not government! It's a crime."

"That's what Xion said when I told her this," Dalton said. "She wanted to know about this country, so we told her everything. When she heard about Wapol's idea about the doctors, you don't want to know what she said at that time."

"Well, I'm curious," Usopp said. "And besides, Xion is my First Mate. Well, that position would've been Zoro, but she's way more reliable than him. Anyway, what did she say?"

"She said..."

* * *

_***FLASHBACK***_

"Are you serious?! That's crazy! What kind of a king is he?! If I ever see that guy, I'll make him wish he was never born! I'll slice him, dice him, freeze him, shock him, burn him, even eat him alive if I have to!"

* * *

_***END OF FLASHBACK***_

"Xion really said that?" Vivi nervously asked.

"And a lot more," Dalton added.

"I never thought that she would say such a thing," the sniper stated. "I mean, sure we got her made this one time, but never did I hear her say anything like that!"

"And when those creatures she called Heartless appeared at that time, you don't want to know what happened then."

"You're right! I don't! I don't want to know or hear anything more about Xion's bad side! I'm scared that even disobeying her orders is enough to get her to that side now!" Usopp then clutched his stomach. "Ah! I think I came down with a I-don't-want-to-know-anything-more-about-Xion disease."

'_There's no such thing,_' Dalton thought.

* * *

An hour later, they arrived in Cocoaweed in the bar where Dr. Kureha was in.

"What did you say?! She already left the village?! We just missed her!?" Usopp questioned. "What a fix!"

"She just cured my infection," the barkeeper's son explained.

"Are you looking for the doctor, Dalton-san?" the barkeeper himself asked the former soldier.

"We have an emergency patient. Do you know where she went?" he asked.

"Well, my son told her about Xion's return so she might be heading back to the castle."

"Are you sure? I heard someone say that Dr. Kureha was headed for Gyasta," a customer informed.

"Gyasta?" Dalton repeated.

"Where's that?" Usopp asked.

"Cutting through Bighorn, it's on the opposite side."

"We went past them again?!"

"Skating is quite popular there."

"That doesn't matter! I didn't even ask!"

"Calm down, Usopp-san," Vivi said to the long-nose sniper. "Either way, we have to get to Gyasta to see if she's there. We have no time to spare."

The moment she said that, an injured man came through the doorway. "Dalton-san...!" he called, breathing heavily. "So this is where you were...!"

"Weren't you part of the lookout team for today?" Dalton recalled. The man lost his balance and fell. Dalton noticed this and his injuries and caught him before he hit the ground. "What's wrong?! What happened?! How did you get these wounds?!"

"All the guards... were decimated. All of a sudden, this ship emerged from the ocean and... they crushed everyone!"

"Who are 'they'? Calm down and tell me who did this to you."

"X-... Xion..."

When they heard that name, they quickly assumed that it was Xion who attacked them.

"That's impossible! Xion went to-"

"Where's Xion?!" the injured man asked, correcting everyone's assumption. "Is she still getting the sick person to the doctor?! She promised... That she'll defeat him when he comes back..."

'_He? Don't tell me!_' Dalton thought, already having a guess on who decimated the guards.

"It's Wapol! WAPOL HAD RETURNED!" That warning caused everyone in the bar to panic. All except for Vivi, Usopp and Dalton, of course. At that information, Dalton quickly grabbed his stuff and left the bar, grabbing a horse to get to Wapol as fast as possible.

'_I'll put an end to all of this!_' he decided. '_I don't want Xion to worry about us since she has her nakama to worry about! However, I don't plan to play the part of justice here. You and I are guilty of the same crime!_' As he thought that, he was beginning to change, physically. He then suddenly jumped off his borrowed horse and continued his way to his enemy on feet, or hooves. '_At the very least, I will at least weaken you enough to let Xion finish you. Be prepared, Wapol!_'


	14. Beware of the Avalanche

**A/N: Partial credit goes to EvanderAdvent.**

* * *

_Last time:_

_"No way..." I muttered. "Don't tell me that..."_

_"What, Xion?"_

_"Luffy. Run."_

_"Where?"_

_"Anywhere is fine," Sanji replied to the straw hat boy, getting the same idea that I'm having. "Just get away from here!"_

_"They're... THEY'RE GONNA CAUSE AN AVALANCHE!"_

* * *

"Those shitty rabbits! They're gonna get it now! Dammit!" Sanji swore, as we ran for our lives away from the avalanche that the Lapahns caused.

"W-w-what do we do?! What are we going to do, Sanji?! Xion?!" Luffy questioned.

"For now, just run!" I replied.

"Xion-san's right! Our first priority is Nami-san! Second is Nami-san! Third, fourth and fifth are Nami-san!" Sanji panicked.

"Either way, Nami's safety comes first! Got it memorized, Luffy?!"

"I got it! But how?!"

I quickly observed our surroundings, hoping to find a high place to get out of our situation.

"There! That cliff!" Sanji announced. I looked at the direction where he saw the cliff.

"You sure?!" I asked, having a bad feeling about going up there.

"Of course! We have to get to someplace higher!" he said, running to the cliff, with me and Luffy following.

'_That's not why I asked, idiot,_' I said to myself.

We somehow got to the top, but it wasn't high enough and we were forced off.

* * *

_***MEANWHILE, WITH VIVI AND USOPP**GENERAL'S P.O.V***_

"Oi, Vivi. Are you sure we're going the right way to this 'Gyasta' village where the witch is at?" Usopp asked. He and Vivi continued their way to Gyasta to see Dr. Kureha and have her return to the castle as quick as possible while everyone on the island were preparing to help Dalton in his upcoming battle against Wapol.

"Now that you asked, I'm not really sure..." the princess sadly replied, looking at the map.

"If you're not sure, then we're in trouble! Let's say Luffy and the others get up there first and find that there's no doctor. They're gonna go, 'Oi! What's she doing?! Where is she?!' And even if she did get there before they did, what if she sees Xion and, like everyone in Bighorn, became incredibly happy that she's alive and all, despite the fact that she's old? What's Xion going to say, then?! If we don't find this doctor quickly and tell her to get back to the castle and about Xion's amnesia-"

"I know that, but..." Vivi interrupted.

"If you know, then do something. You're a princess, aren't you?"

"That has nothing to do with this! I'm not a witch, I'm a princess."

"Yeah, yeah..."

"Then why don't _you_ look at the map, Usopp-san?" Vivi insisted, passing it over to the sniper.

"D-don't be an idiot! Everything's covered in snow! What good is a map gonna do?" he reasoned.

"So, you don't know where we're going either?"

"Nope! I absolutely have no idea!" the long-nose proudly spoke.

"You don't have to be so proud about it," Vivi continued. "Anyway, somewhere along this trail, there's supposed to be a sign pointing the way to Gyasta. We mustn't miss it."

"Alright! You can count on me!" Unfortunately for them, while they were talking, they passed the said sign.

* * *

_***AT THE SAME TIME, IN BIGHORN***_

While the Straw Hats were doing their business, Wapol is in Bighorn snacking on many of the people's homes and properties.

"DELICIOUS!~" he yelled, after eating a big mouthful of the village, except for the villagers, of course. "Listen up, peasants! Everything in this country is my snack! I am GREAT! As for why... Kuromarimo! Tell them!"

"That is, of course, because you are the king," one of Wapol's trustworthy soldier, Kuromarimo, explained.

"That's right! Exactly! That's why I must have my houses cooked well-done!"

"Wapol-sama! I have new information to report. If I may speak in your presence, we received word that the Straw Hat Pirates are headed towards our very own Drum Castle."

"What? Why?"

"They are transporting a sick woman there to see a doctor."

"Those fools! There are no doctors in my castle! There's no one there at all!" Wapol said, laughing at the Straw Hats' assumed stupidity.

"F-furthermore, from the same report," Kuromarimo continued, having Wapol to stop laughing. "Dr. Kureha is apparently now living in Drum Castle."

"WHAT?! That old hag is in _my_ castle?!" Wapol gasped in shock. "How far will she go to humiliate me?!" He then turned back to the rest of his men. "Listen up! I'll drag her out and eat her along with the Straw Hat pests! Men! We're going back to the castle!"

"There's more news," Kuromarimo continued. "One of those Straw Hat Pirates, the girl in black, while we were gone, she defeated the pirates that we escaped from and gained a great amount of popularity here."

"What was that?! How dare she?! I see what she's trying to do without having anyone to explain it. Trying to take my throne, eh? I'll do more than just eat her up! And if she came here the moment we left, she should know everyone here, even Kureha. As for the reason why she was on the Straw Hat's ship... Well, I don't know the reason for that. However, I will not let my throne be taken by a girl!"

"That is far enough!" came a voice. Everyone looked at the one who spoke and saw Dalton, charging at Wapol and cut him with a spade.

"Who the hell...?!" began Kuromarimo.

"Ahh! I've been cut! I'm going to die!" Wapol panicked.

"Dalton-san!" called one of the bystanders.

"I came to kill you!" he said. "You're death would suit me just fine!"

"Dalton, you bastard..." another one of Wapol's trustworthy soldiers, Chess spoke. "So you're still alive, we see."

"You dare touch Wapol-sama..."

"It means nothing," the former soldier said. "You have the skills of our great medical country, Drum's most elite doctors."

"You're right," Kuromarimo agreed. "Isshi-20, Surgial Unit. Forward!"

Just then, five doctors who seems to be pros in surgery appeared and began their operation on the 'king'.

"Wow. I really thought I was a goner there," Wapol stated. Makes people wonder why Dalton reminded them that they have their country's most elite doctors.

"Protecting only yourself, you denied the people of this country's access to doctors. They had no choice but to suffer from their diseases, Wapol," Dalton spoke.

"Wapol? It's Wapol-sama. My retainer, Dalton."

"That's right. You've no right to speak to him like that," Kuromarimo agreed.

"You along with the two of us are Wapol-sama's Ministers," Chess reminded. "Were we not his loyal arms and legs?"

Dalton clenched his fists when he was reminded of that. "It is true that when you inflicted suffering onto the people, all I could do as your retainer was stand idly and watch. I must accept responsibility for my failures. Wapol, let's leave here together. We cannot stand on this soil anymore."

When he said that, many of the bystanders convinced Dalton that he did nothing wrong and that he should stay while Wapol and his minions leave the country for good.

"Heh! He would've done better to die as the Drum Kingdom Captain of the Guard," Wapol laughed. "I'm surprised you managed to survive in a doctorless country like this."

"You're right about that," Dalton agreed. "And I would've died by those creatures that you left behind, if it wasn't for Xion."

"Xion?"

"She was there for us when we needed her, unlike you. While you were gone, she came and protected us from those beings. Even though it was only for six months, we all had faith in her."

"Six months? I was gone for less than a year."

"That's right, you were gone for less than a year. She stopped coming after the six months that you left us. And now that she's back, I will weaken you, at least weak enough for Xion to finish you off!"

"Oh stop dreaming. Like that would happen. I'm a devil fruit user. A girl who weilds a odd weapon means nothing to me. I'll just eat it all up anyway."

"If only you know what she's capable of," Dalton whispered, loud enough for Wapol and his men to hear him. "And also, who would've thought that, in a kingdom with advanced medical science, our 'elite doctors' are a mere 20 people working in the King's castle laboratory and that every other doctor has been exiled here!"

"Of course!" Wapol exclaimed, his mood instantly becoming positive. "All that becomes sick must beg for their lives before me! If I'm in the mood, it's not like I won't let them see the Isshi-20. If you don't want to die, then you must revere me as your king! That makes my rule absolute! That's the politics of my country!"

"WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH _POLITICS_?!" Dalton snapped.

"You went and said it. Kill him! Kill your former commander!"

"I knew you wouldn't understand, even if I said it to your face." Wapol's former commander then changed again. "I had always clung to the hope that the son of the great former king under whom I served would someday open his eyes. However, as Xion said when I first told her this, IT WAS FUTILE!"

"There it is! The Ushi Ushi No Mi Model: Bison!" Two of Wapol's men identified.

At that, Dalton went in and attacked them. He was easily beating them all, without breaking a sweat. That is, until the people that wanted to help Dalton fight came. Chess, who knew him for a long time, went straight for his weakness and fired three of his arrows at them. Dalton went and let the three arrows hit him instead, protecting the people. Just when he collapsed, the ground began to shake.

"What's happening?" a villager asked.

"What's going on? An earthquake?" Wapol asked.

* * *

_***MEANWHILE WITH USOPP AND VIVI***_

"Oi! This is bad!" Usopp stated to the princess. "The snow's so deep that we stopped completely."

"It looks like we've accidentally started to climb a mountain," Vivi said. Just then, they felt shaking. "What is this rumbling? Hey, Usopp-san... Do you think this is...?"

"A-an avalanche!" the sniper identified, panicking.

* * *

_***WITH XION AND CO.**XION'S P.O.V***_

Luffy and Nami were in the air, the latter on the former's back. As for Sanji and me, we were caught in the avalanche and were being buried in snow. And we would've been, too, if Luffy didn't save us.

"Sanji! Xion! Grab on!" he ordered, stretching out his arms to us. We both grabbed it and were pulled towards our captain.

"We're saved," the chef said.

"I thought I was going to die being buried in snow," I stated.

"Well, yeah, but..." we heard our captain spoke. "We're not going to be buried in snow, but now we're going straight down the mountain!"

"WHAT?!" we screamed.

"You can't be serious!" I exclaimed.

"And we were just about to make it to the foot of that chimney mountain!" Sanji added.

"Xion! Can't you use you're Dream Eaters to carry us?!"

"As I said before, none of them can handle the cold!" I reminded.

"In any case, Luffy! Think of some way to stop this thing!" Sanji demanded. He then swore about putting the Lapahns in a pot as we continued our way down. When he did, I noticed one of them riding on a tree like us.

"Sanji! Duck!" I warned, as the rabbit tried to attack him. The next thing you know, more of them came! Isn't causing an avalanche enough for these mammals?!

"What do we do now, guys?!" Luffy asked.

"What else?!" I asked back, making the answer extremely obvious.

"There's only one thing we can do: RUN!" Sanji answered.

No matter how hard we try, unfortunately, they kept following us. I looked ahead of us to steer our ride while the boys were dodging from the rabbits' attacks. When they all surrounded us, however, up ahead of us is a rock!

"Wahh! A rock! We're gonna hit!" Luffy blurted out the obvious.

"We can't afford that! Nami-san's on your freaking back!" The Lapahns going for an attack behind us was no help whatsoever in this situation.

I was about to react fast and summon Wyvern to protect Luffy and Nami, when I felt something grab me and throw me into the air. It's not just me; Luffy was also thrown. Looking down at the culprit, it was Sanji who threw us.

"You have to treat ladies with great care," he said.

"Sanji!" we called, as he hit the rock. As we were about to land on the snow, Luffy undid the scarves that were helping him hold onto Nami and tossed her to me.

'_Wait a second!_' I thought, having an idea of what he was thinking.

"I'm leaving Nami to you, Xion!" he shouted, using his powers to put me and the sick girl to the rock that Sanji hit.

"LUFFY!" I screamed, as he got buried under the snow as well. "Idiots! You don't have to take Sanji's advice so seriously! This isn't the time to be acting so selfish in the first place!" Knowing that my screams went to deaf ears, I placed Nami down and summoned all my Dream Eaters.

"**Summon: Majik Lapin, Ryu Dragon, Komory Bat, Fin Fatale, Cera Terror, Tyranto Rex, Iceguin Ace!**" I called. When they materialized, the ones who I assumed to be bothered by the cold seemed okay with the weather. "Look guys. I know I said you guys can rest all you want, but this is an emergency, and I need all the help I can get," I told them, as I took off my black coat, revealing my black sports bra and wrapping my coat around Nami. "Wyvern, Rex, you two stay here and keep Nami warm. The rest of you are with me so we can find Luffy and Sanji. Those idiots protected us and got themselves buried in snow. I know most of you guys probably can't take the cold, but I have no other choice."

When I turned to face my Dream Eaters, THEY ALL HAD WINTER CLOTHES ON! "You mean to tell me that I could've summoned you guys when I want to in this weather?!" I shouted. "Ah! Forget it! I only have two flying Dream Eaters and the total amount of people that can be carried are three, so it's hopeless to fly. Anyway, you all heard what I said before, right?" They all screeched and nodded their heads at my question. "Then as soon as the avalanche is done, we'll start our search!"

As soon as the avalanche was over, we all did as I planned. My two fire Dream Eaters stayed behind to warm up Nami and the rest of them went with me to find Sanji and Luffy. When we found them, thanks to my Dream Eaters, I tried waking them up, only to find that they're both out cold.

"Damn it..." I muttered, warming up my hands from doing all of that digging. "DAMN IT!" Soon after, with some of my Dream Eaters help, I managed to carry my three allies. Nami on one side of my back, Sanji on the other, and Luffy behind them as a belt to keep them on my back. As for the captain's treasured straw hat, I placed it on Nami's head, under the hood of my coat that I decided to have her keep for a while. It's a lot of trouble to carry all three of them like this, but there was no other choice.

"They will owe me for this," I muttered. "Do you guys think you can help me get to that mountain? All I want you guys to do is protect me from being attacked by anything that comes in our way. And once we get to that mountain... I'll figure out about that one on the way. Think you can do it?" All my allies roared, signaling that they can help me on our way to the doctor. "Thanks you guys. Now let's go."

* * *

After a little while of walking out in the cold, I heard a familiar voice. '_**Daddy! Please don't die! I'm trying my best to dig you out right now!**_' I looked up and saw that it was the small Lapahn from earlier, as well as a big paw behind it.

'_Guess one of those Lapahns got buried, too,_' I said to myself.

'_**Don't take another step closer!**_' the small rabbit warned me. I looked down at it and saw that it's trying to protect its parent. For some reason, looking at the situation, I feel like... I was in that situation once before. Or maybe something similiar to that situation. '_**I'm not scared of you!**_'

I gave Torpedo and Wyvern a look, which they immediately understood.

'_**Don't hurt me!**_' the small rabbit begged, instantly cowering down as the two Dream Eaters walked or swam closer to it. Instead of them attacking it like it assumed, my fish and dragon got the parent out of the snow.

We then ignored the little one's joyful cries and continued our way to the castle.

"You three better not die on me," I muttered. "Once we get up there, I will definitely scold you guys. One of them being the fact that you should've recruited a doctor before we got here. Got it memorized?"

"Wait, brat!" I heard from behind me. My Dream Eaters and I turned to the voice and saw the one person that I don't want to see.

"Oh, great," I mumbled.

"You've brought so many humiliations upon me! I'm gonna make you pay!"


	15. A Risk in Hiking and a Rescue

**A/N: Partial credit goes to EvanderAdvent.**

* * *

_Last time:_

_"Wait, brat!" I heard from behind me. My Dream Eaters and I turned to the voice and saw the one person that I don't want to see._

_"Oh, great," I mumbled._

_"You've brought so many humiliations upon me! I'm gonna make you pay!"_

* * *

I really do NOT have time for these clowns! Two of my nakama are injured and one of them is sick! Can't I get to the castle WITHOUT TROUBLE?!

"Move it," I told Wapol and the dummies.

"Well, aren't you a hippo," the metal-mouth stated. "Why the hell would I move?!"

'_**Yeah, why?**_' the hippo that Wapol and his lackies are on asked.

Rather than answering their question, since it's going to be a waste of time, I walked around them, with my Dream Eaters glaring at them. "Hey, you guys. What are you waiting for? We have better things to do than to stand around and talk," I told them. That said, they resumed following me.

"Hey, wait! I'm not done talking to you, you throne-stealer!"

'_**Yeah! You throne-stealer!**_' the hippo agreed.

'_Throne-stealer? As I said, I have better things to do here,_' I mentally stated.

"Oh, of course. Chess, I just thought of a new law. Write this down," I heard Wapol say, as I continued to walk. "'Anyone who ignores the king is to be executed... AT THAT VERY INSTANT!'" I stopped in my tracks when I heard that. "I'll start with the ones ignoring me the most! Kill the sick and injured ones first!"

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" I demanded, as I turned to see Wapol's lackies charging towards me.

"Leave the girl to me," the blue one told the afro one.

"Then that leaves me with the injured ones!" he said. "Take this!"

Just before they can land a hit on me, Lapin and Terra blocked their attacks. "Guys! No matter what, protect me! Don't let them land a hit on me!" I ordered my Dream Eaters, recieving their agreements.

After a little while of running, I stopped for a short break. '_This should be good enough,_' I thought. '_With my Dream Eaters in the way, I highly doubt that they caught up with me._' Just when I was going to continue my way to the castle, I saw teeth. My instincts acted up and I quickly backed away. That, however, left me wide open from behind.

"What the-?!" I gasped in shock.

"This is our country's specialty! White concealment! **Yuki Geshou!**" the afro man exclaimed.

"Your Dream Eaters are strong, but luckily for us, they lack brains," the blue one stated. "And now, to end this!"

"NOOOOO!" I screamed. The instant I screamed that, I heard voices.

'_**We won't let you!**_' they shouted. Two familiar figures then jumped in Wapol's men's way and knocked them down before they could fire an arrow or throw a punch.

"You guys are..." I breathed in surprise.

"Lapahn?!" Wapol identified.

'_**Huh?!**_' Yes. I was saved by the rabbits that tried to kill me and my nakama earlier.

'_**Human,**_' one of the Lapahns called. '_**Are you and your friends all right?**_' At first I was confused when he asked me that. But when I saw a scar on his face, I remembered that he was the Lapahn that I had my Dream Eaters save. I then heard screeches and saw all my Dream Eaters running towards me. When they saw the Lapahns, they immediately tried to attack them.

"All of you!" I shouted, getting everyone's attention. "I believe I told you we have better things to do _and_ that your job is to protect me from those that will harm me." It got quiet for a second before I continued what I wanted to say. "Lapahns... Thanks for saving me. I will definitely repay you."

'**_You do not need to repay us. It is us who must repay our debt._**' I looked up at the Lapahn that I saved and smirked at it.

"Yeah. You're right. And I bet you know how to do that, right?"

'_**Yeah!**_' he and his child replied.

My smirk became a grin and I continued my way to my destination. My Dream Eaters caught the message and followed. "Thanks again! I won't forget this!" I shouted.

The weather out here got worse as time pass. A strong blizzard came and I was FREEZING! I was so stupid to take off my black coat. Urgh! If only I have another Dream Eater that can fly or if Wyvern can carry three people instead of two. It would be nice if I have something that can fly us to the castle, like a vehicle or something so I don't have to trouble Wyvern and Fang. But no! My only choice in getting to the castle is BY WALKING! Man, do I need to chill out, even though it's already cold out here.

When I finally got to the mountain, my face paled a bit. "F-finally here," I muttered, freezing cold from the weather. "I-i can't believe h-h-how high it is... Can barely see the t-t-top..." I then brainstormed on how I can get out there. Because of what happened on the way here, I had no clue on how to get to the top.

Just then, I felt something pulling my pants. "Wh-what?" I asked, turning to the culprits. Turns out, Wyvern and Fang were the ones pulling and, by the looks of it, they want to carry the sick and injured ones up there. "I-i appreciate y-y-your thoughts guys, but I don't want you to overdo your bodies," I said. "Th-there has to be another way to get up there-" before I can finish my sentence, the blizzard got stronger and blew Luffy's treasured hat away. When I saw it get blown away like that, I quickly had Fang to get it.

As I watched Fang fetch Luffy's strawhat, I looked back to the said accessory getting blown farther away. Looking at it gave me an idea that I should've thought of from the beginning.

"I got it!" I exclaimed, as Fang returned with my captain's treasure.

* * *

"Okay guys, you ready?" I asked.

Here was my plan: it turns out, the fastest way to get up there was by flying. At first, I didn't think of it because of the limit amount of people Wyvern and Fang could carry. However, if I can have them combine their strength and give them my own support with my wind magic, carrying three people while flying won't be a problem. The only problem here, unfortunately, was the amount of magic that I can use. You see, using magic is sort of like fighting. The more I use them, the tired I get. In other words, if I use a strong magic for a long period of time, I will barely have any strength left to even walk.

Anyway, so I had Fang carry Sanji on its back, despite it having a small body, the size of a human's head, and had Wyvern carry Nami and Luffy, using the latter's devil fruit powers to tie them both onto my dragon Dream Eater. Fang is on Luffy's back and Wyvern was on my back. I had Warrior's Pride out and got ready to use my Aeroga spell. And of course, I returned the rest of my Dream Eaters back in their cards, since they can't climb a mountain as steep as the one before us.

Once I recieved nods from my partners, the plan went into action. "**Maximum Aeroga!**" I yelled, as a powerful gust of wind emerge from the tip of my Keyblade. With Wyvern and Fang's wings, we were flying straight up, as planned! "It really worked!" I happily exclaimed.

* * *

_***MEANWHILE, WITH USOPP AND VIVI**GENERAL'S P.O.V***_

Where the princess and the sniper are, the avalanche mostly buried them. Luckily, it wasn't enough to kill them, for Vivi regained conscious.

"An avalanche..." she spoke, getting up. "We were dragged into it. Usopp-san?" She looked around to find her long-nose friend, only to see his nose sticking out of the snow, signalling that he got himself buried. Shocked at the sight, the princess of Arabasta quickly dug and dragged Usopp out of the snow.

"Hang in there, Usopp-san!" she begged, shaking and patting the sniper up.

"What, Vivi? Don't wake me up," he complained, regaining whatever consciousness he had left. "I was having the most wonderful dream. Really, it was a world like I've never seen before with its beautiful flower fields and beautiful rivers..."

Hearing those words were enough to cause Vivi to panic even more than she did before. "DON'T GO TO THAT WORLD! Don't go to sleep! Wake up!" she yelled, patting him harder than before, crying as she did.

"AHHH!" the sniper suddenly screamed, surprising the princess before he continued to be in lala land and increased Vivi's panicing. "Now fall in~! All 74,000 members of the Usopp Pirate crew~!"

"No, please wake up! Usopp-san, don't die!" Vivi once again begged, crying. The next thing you know, she repeatedly slapped the boy until he's back in the real world.

* * *

"Ah! You saved me, Vivi! So this is what it means to return from the brink of death!" Usopp exclaimed, as the two walked their way to a village. "It's great I'm alive but..." Zooming out of Usopp's face, we can all see that his face is incredibly and ridiculously swollen. "Is it just me or is my face swollen?" he asked.

Avoiding eye-contact with the sniper, due to the fact that she caused his face to be swollen while saving Usopp from dying, Vivi nervously replied, "I-it's frostbite Frostbite. These snowy countries are quite dangerous, you know. Besides, we have to hurry. We need to gather our bearings and access our situation!"

As they walked, something was coming out of the snow below Vivi. The princess stumbled back and the sniper panicked at the sight.

"AHH! WHAT'S THIS?!" he shouted in fear, thinking that it was a snow monster of some sort, when it was actually a shirtless Zoro, who was also a victim in the avalanche.

"I give, I give," he spoke. "I just saw a field of flowers." He then wrapped his arms around his freezing body, not yet noticing his nakama. "It's so cold. And then that damn avalanche had to come. But I guess it's just like another round of midwinter swimming."

"Zoro?" Usopp spoke up, bringing the swordsman's attention over to him and Vivi.

"Oh, Vivi," Zoro answered, not remembering Usopp due to his swollen head. He first gave him a weird look. When he noticed the long nose, Zoro instantly knew that the swollen-head human is his crew's sniper. "Oh, it's Usopp! What are you two doing out here?"

"That's what _we_ should be asking you!" he and the princess corrected.

* * *

"Midwinter swimming?" Usopp asked. Zoro was telling him and Vivi how he got to the island. Turns out, he was doing some swimming, got to the island, and got lost.

"Without any clothes? You're an idiot, you know?" the sniper stated to the swordsman. "And besides, Xion specifically told you to not get off of Merry. That means do not set even a foot off of Merry."

"Then how am I going to walk if my feet stays on the floor?" Zoro asked.

"You know what she meant by that!"

"Anyway, Usopp, give me your coat."

"Fat chance."

'_I wonder if Nami-san was overcome with mental fatigue,_' Vivi thought, as Zoro was demanding something to keep him warm from Usopp, the latter repeatedly saying no. '_No, then Xion would've been sick as well._'

When they got to a village, which was Bighorn, there was a commotion going on there.

"Look at that," Vivi spoke, getting the guys' attention. "There are people down there."

"Oi... Those buildings look familiar," Usopp stated.

Looking around, Vivi gasped. "You're right! This is Bighorn! We ended up all the way back here."

When she said that, the three's attention went to the gathered people. Wondering what was happening to the village, they all went down to check it out.

"Oi. What's going on?" Zoro asked one of the villagers.

"'What's going on,' you say..." the asked person asked, turning around to face the freezing swordsman. "WHAT'S GOING ON WITH _YOU_, DRESSED LIKE THAT?!"

"Dalton-san is... under the avalanche!" an elder villager told them, shocking Vivi and Usopp.

"Dalton-san is?" the princess asked.

"Yeah. But because of them, we can't dig him out of the snow."

"Stand back, stand back! Anyone with who has a problem with this, feel free to step up and show us what you got!" says the leader of the opposing group.

"You'll be sorry when Xion gets back!" one of the villagers shouted.

"That's right! Once she gets here, you're all gonna get it!" another villager agreed.

"Hah! And where is this fearsome Xion? Wapol-sama is out to find and kill her, in case if none of you remembers," the leader boasted.

"Say what?!" Usopp screamed. "This is not good! She's in enough trouble as it is! Ahhh! What should we do?!"

"Usopp," Zoro called. "I've seen those uniforms before. Those are the guys we met at sea. Am I wrong?!"

"Yeah, you're right," the sniper replied, calming down a little.

"So they're our enemies?" the swordsman asked, confusing the long-nose pirate. "Enemies, right? What are they then? Allies?"

"Well, they're enemies, but... What about it?"

Rather than answering, Zoro ran through the crowd and attacked the leader, knocking him out. All the people around him were surprised to see that happen. One of the villagers was telling him to apologize for attacking. As he did, Zoro took the unconscious man's coat.

"Hahaha! Nice and warm! I'm borrowing this!"

"You attacked him for _that_?!" Usopp questioned. "Oi, look! They're pissed off now!" True to his words, the rest of Wapol's men closed in on Zoro. One of them recognized him as one of the pirates that they tried to raid the other day.

"You're rather slow to learn, gentlemen," Zoro told them, causing them all to attack him. Being a skilled swordsman, Zoro also charged in and dodged all of their attacks, secretly taking a sword from three soldiers. "Are you looking for these?" he asked, turning around to have them see three swords in his hands. Putting one of the swords in his mouth, Zoro went and attacked every single one of them, or should I say, killed them all.

"What? Finished already?" he questioned, putting down his three borrowed swords. "What a bunch of losers."

Every villagers were shocked at the sight. In fact, they were mostly speechless.

"That guy..." "He took them all out..." "He could be Xion's rival..."

"Good, Zoro! Just as I planned!" Usopp lied, as usual. Of course, none of them paid any attention to the liar and went to dig Dalton out of the snow.

* * *

_***BACK TO XION AND CO.**XION'S P.O.V***_

Half an hour passed and we were nowhere near the top. I think we're half-way there, but I couldn't see the castle, so it was hard for me to tell. I was already losing my strength, I could barely grip my weapon, and it's SO FREAKING COLD OUT HERE! I could tell that I was near my limit in my wind magic, since it seemed that we're slowing down, even when my Dream Eaters were flapping their wings to get us there faster.

"Guys! Get me close to this mountain!" I ordered. My allies seemed to give me a confuse look, yet they did as told.

I called back my Keyblade and quickly held my grip on the mountain. "Change of plans," I said. "Get them on me again. I can't continue that wind magic any longer than that. I won't return you guys back in your cards yet, so you guys can continue to help me during the rest of the way." I noticed the sad looks on their faces as they placed Sanji, Nami and Luffy back on my back the way they were before we got here. After that, we continued our way to the top.

I was getting colder as time passed. In fact, I was getting frostbites. Even with my gloves and shoes on, my hands and feet are so cold, they're bleeding from all this climbing. Fang and Wyvern were worried about me and supported me in any way possible.

When we got to the top at last, I looked up to see that there was a castle, and it was a big one. When I lied down to rest for a while from all that climbing, I called Fang and Wyvern.

"Y-y-you two... T-t-take Luffy, Sanji and Nami and g-g-get to the castle... The doctor should be there..." The Komory Bat and Ryu Dragon began to protest at my selfishness. "Listen to me! They need her more than I do. N-now take them... And go!" Giving me depressed looks, the two Dream Eaters did as told and went to see the doctor. Just when they turned their backs on me, as I was starting to lose conscious, the snow I was on, that was on the edge of the mountain slipped off the edge. Because of that, I was also falling.

'_**MASTER!**_' I heard a pair of voices shout, as I was caught by something. Using the last of my strength, I looked up at my saviour and saw that it was a furry creature with a pink top hat with an 'x' on it. After that, I blacked out.


	16. Dr Kureha and Chopper

**A/N: Partial credit goes to EvanderAdvent.**

* * *

It was snowing outside. I was walking my way to somewhere. I don't know where I'm going exactly, because my body was moving on its own.

'_What am I doing?_' I asked myself. '_Where am I going?_'

"AHHH! HELP ME!" I heard. I ran to the source of the scream in worry. The voice sounded familiar. Why is that?

When I got to the source, I saw a small creature that looks like a tanuki (racoon-dog), only that it has antlers, hooves, and a pink top-hat.

"Chopper!" I shouted, getting the creature's attention.

"Xion-nee! Help me!" it, or he, begged. My body charged at the group of Heartless with my Keyblade in hand.

After that was done, I bent down to the creature's level.

"Chopper, are you okay?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Why are you out here?"

"I wanted to get stronger, and get some more herbs for the medicine and rumble balls. But those Heartless came out of nowhere and I was scared. But I promise. It won't happen again!"

"That's my little reindeer," I complimented, patting the creature on the head.

"C-complimenting me like that won't make me happy, you asshole~" he lied, doing some kind of dance.

* * *

_***REALITY***_

I woke up from that strange dream, wondering what it was about.

'_Was that another portion of my memories?_' I thought, placing my hand on my head. Just as I did, I noticed the bandages on it. I looked at myself and saw that I was covered in bandages.

"Guess the doctor saved me, too," I said out loud.

"Xion-nee?" came a child's voice. I turned to the source and saw that it was the tanuki, or reindeer, from my memories. Tears began to form from his eyes and he jumped on me. "XION-NEE! You finally came back!"

The force of Chopper's, the reindeer, attack made me hit my head on the bed's railing.

"AHHH! Xion-nee! Are you okay?!" Chopper asked, realizing what he did when he jumped to hug me.

"Yes, I'm okay," I replied, rubbing my head.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Whew. That's a relief. So how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Mind if I ask where my nakama are?"

"You mean the colorful animals? Or the humans on them?"

"Both."

"I don't know how, but the animals just disappeared. And as for the humans, the males are sleeping in the room next door, and the sick girl is sleeping in the room next to it. At least, I hope she's asleep."

"I see. So they're all right," I sighed in relief. I slowly got out of bed, wanting to see if Nami's getting better.

"Xion-nee! What are you planning to do?!" Chopper demanded. And why did he call me his sister?

"I want to see if Nami, the sick girl, is all right," I replied.

"You can't! If you get out of bed, Doctorine will get mad."

"Then let her. Besides, I can heal myself." I took out Warrior's Pride when I said that, using my healing magic. When I used it, I felt better than ever. "There. I'm all better. Now let me see my nakama."

"You sure?" Chopper asked me, his face and tone filled with worry. And man, does he look so cute with that face.

"I'm absolutely sure, Chopper," I answered.

"Okay." He then led me to Nami's room.

As we walked, he was asking me a lot of questions, such as why I'm with the pirates, why I have a bounty, what I meant when I said that I wouldn't be coming back. Basically most of those questions where things that I want to know the answers to myself, because they were things that I can't remember. Fortunately for me, Chopper was asking too many questions too fast, like a curious child, I can't seem to remember what his first question was.

"Xion-nee, why aren't you answering my questions?" he then asked. And why was he calling me his sister?

"You were asking too many questions at once, how can I answer them?" I asked back.

Chopper seemed to realize that and apologized. He was about to ask his questions again but couldn't since we arrived at our destination.

"Ah, Xion!" Nami called. By the sound of her voice, she must've gotten better.

"Nami!" I called back.

"What are you doing up, you little brat?" came the voice of an old lady. I turned and saw a woman with the body of a teenager and a face of a witch.

'_Without a doubt, that is Dr. Kureha,_' I thought. '_Her face looks like a witch._'

"Oi. I asked you a question, Xion," Kureha said.

"I'm up because I want to check up on my friends," I replied. "Is that wrong of me?"

"No. But you should've realized that if you're not yet better..." Kureha was suddenly close to me, holding a knife near my neck. "... You're just asking for death."

"Xion!"

"AHH! Xion-nee!"

I took out my Keyblade and had it on Kureha's neck.

"Then I'll just take you with me, if you plan on killing me," I threatened.

A moment of silence came and Kureha was the one who broke it. "I see you're well after all, Xion," she said, putting her knife away. "And it seems you've changed a little, since the last time we saw you." I tensed a bit when she said that. "And just what were you thinking, giving up your coat to your nakama like that? I know you want to help people, but that's going a bit too far. Oh, and Chopper, mind treating the boys?"

"Eh? But..." Chopper began to protest.

"But what?"

"I want to talk to Xion-nee a little more."

"We can talk later," I kindly said to the reindeer. "Right now, my nakama's lives are more important."

Chopper understood and ran to treat my friends.

"So... Where have you been this whole time?" Uh-oh. "It's been six months since you were last here. And you always visited this country, after your done with your missions, or after hanging out with your friends. And you said that that last visit was the final, just what do you mean by that?"

I was getting uncomfortable with her questions. Sweats began to form on my head. I think my mouth was beginning to dry up.

"Well, about that..." Nami spoke, saving me. "Xion can't really tell you why."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"She has an amnesia."

Kureha seems shock when she heard my condition. "Does Chopper know?" she asked.

"If Chopper is the tanuki, or reindeer, then no," I answered. "He just seems so happy to see me. I can't just say, 'I have an amnesia so I have no idea who you are or what you're talking about.' That would break his heart."

"Well, that's funny coming from you," Kureha stated. "Last I remember, you don't have a heart." My eyes widened at the information.

"Don't... have a heart?" I repeated.

"What do you mean?" Nami questioned. "It's impossible for a human to live without a heart."

"That's what I thought, until I treated her," Kureha told us.

"I don't get it," I spoke, leaning on a wall. "If what you said is true... and if I'm not a human... then, what am I?" I looked at myself, trying to figure out the answer, when suddenly...

"AHHHH! HELP ME!" a scream was heard. We turned to where it came from and saw Chopper, with Luffy and Sanji on him.

Luffy looked like he was going to eat Chopper, while Sanji was telling Luffy to not eat him, that he has to co- COOK CHOPPER?! Hearing that, I summoned Lapin to save the poor reindeer.

Well, I was about to, when Luffy suddenly let go of Chopper, noticing me and Nami.

"Nami! Xion!" he spoke, looking at us.

"Nami-san! Xion-san!" Sanji called, just noticing us.

'_Well that was quick,_' I mentally stated.

"So you got better, Nami!" Luffy happily stated.

"Ahhh! Xion-swan! What happened to your perfect body?! You're all covered in bandages!" Sanji cried, seeing my condition. Or rather my body's condition.

"Is that what's important right now? And of course my body is covered in bandages," I said. "I had to give up my coat to a certain _someone_ to keep them warm, as well as fly, not even, halfway up here and climb the rest of the way here."

"You climbed up here?!" my three nakama gasped. "On this steep mountain?!"

"How else do you expect me to get up here with three unconscious people?!" I asked back, teeth being sharp. "Also, Wyvern and Fang can't carry all four of us up here! So do not even dare say a word about how crazy I am for climbing up here!"

"Y-... Yes ma'am," they replied.

"Well then, I'll make some venison stew to speed up both you and Nami-san's recovery!" Sanji decided, as he and Luffy looked back at Chopper, who was taking his chance to sneak out of the room.

"HOLD IT!" they shouted, resuming their little chase.

"XION-NEE, SAVE ME!" he begged.

"Hold it, you two! Don't you dare lay even a finger on Chopper!" I warned, chasing after them... out of habit.

I was surprised that those two already caught up with the walking, talking reindeer. I was about to summon my Keyblade and stop them, when Chopper suddenly changed, physically. Instead of looking like a tanuki, his body seems more human. He's still covered in fur, though.

"I AIN'T YOUR FOOD!" he told Luffy and Sanji, knocking their heads into the floor. I stopped in my tracks when I saw this and something triggered inside my head.

I held it in pain, knowing that another one of my memories had returned.

* * *

_***FLASHBACK***_

I was outside of the castle, looking at some plants and a piece of paper. On the paper was a picture of a plant. I can't seem to identify what kind of plant it is, but of what I can tell, I was searching for it on the island.

When I found the plant, I was suddenly surrounded by Heartless. My guard was down, so I couldn't react fast enough. But then, Chopper came and saved me, in his human-ish form.

We managed to defeat the Heartless and got the plant that I was looking for. I then gave Chopper my Keyblade, for reasons that I would like to know, and it came back to me.

I was then remembering having spars with Chopper. Probably to have the both of us get stronger.

* * *

_***END OF FLASHBACK***_

After all those memories, I came back to reality. I then saw Chopper's worried face in front of me and noticed that Luffy and Sanji are gone.

"Xion-nee, are you really okay?" he asked. "You don't seem well at all."

"I-i'm fine, Chopper. Really, I am," I lied, giving him a fake smile. "Where did Luffy and Sanji go? Did they try to look for you and lose you? Man those idiots. And they didn't know the fact that you can talk and change form."

"Xion-nee..."

"Yes, Chopper?"

"You... don't really remember me, do you?"

My eyes widened and my heart was filled with guilt when that questioned was asked. "What makes you think that?"

"Because if your nakama were in that much danger, you wouldn't have to fly or climb all the way up here. You could've just do that portal thing and get here faster. And when your nakama were chasing me, you could've just use your portal to get ahead of them and stopped them. But instead you ran after us." Within each word, my heart was filled with more guilt. "Also, you usually carry me in your arms when you're well and walking around. Xion-nee, what happened to you?"

'_Guess it's now or never,_' I thought.

"Ever since my last visit here, or so I assume, I have an amnesia," I explained. "I don't remember anything about visiting you, Dr. Kureha, or anyone else here on this island." I imagined Chopper all teary as he listens to me. "But I'm starting to remember things. That's a good sign." Before I could say anything else, I was suddenly hugged by Chopper.

"I don't care!" I heard him say. "As long as I see Xion-nee again, that's good enough for me!"

"Chopper..." I was so speechless. I thought knowing that I have an amnesia would broke the little guy's heart, but he didn't seem to care about it. With tears threatening to come out of my eyes, I hugged Chopper back and cried a little. "I'm sorry, Chopper. I'm so sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry, Xion-nee," he said, looking up at me. I can see that he's either really happy to see me, or really sad to know that I don't remember him because of the amount of tears that are coming out of his eyes. "I'm just glad that you're alive."

"Chopper..."

After a short while of crying, I carried Chopper in my arms, with him leading me to where Luffy and Sanji are, which is to Nami's room. When I walked in, I saw that the two boys were beaten by Kureha for calling her old.

'_Insane strength for such an old lady,_' I mentally said, not daring to say it out loud to end up in Luffy and Sanji's situations.

Luffy then tried to convince Kureha to join our crew. Makes me wish if he realized how old she is and what would happen if she left the island. Because right now, he's being selfish.

The captain and Sanji then looked my way, noticing Chopper in my arms. The next thing you know, the chase was on again. Only this time, I'M THE ONE BEING CHASED!

"Run, Xion-nee! Run! Run! Run!" Chopper told me.

"I am running!" I told him.

"Stop, Xion!" Luffy demanded.

"Give us that deer so I can cook it for Nami-san!" Sanji demanded. I could've sworn I heard Kureha's voice after him.

I somehow ran back to Nami's room, not willing to let the boys have Chopper for lunch.

"Just wait, Nami-san!" I heard Sanji spoke, as I saw him running in place near the bed Nami's on. "I'll make you that fine venison dish to lift your spirit!"

"Food doesn't lift people's spirit, dummy!" I told him, running from Luffy.

"That's exactly right!" came Kureha's voice. "And before you make that dish, I'LL EAT YOU FIRST!" She came out of nowhere from the ceiling, EQUIPPED WITH SWORDS!

"THE HAG!" Tweedledee and Tweedledum (**A/N: if you read Second Chance as a Pirate: Omake, you know who's who**) shouted, now running away from Kureha, forgetting me and Chopper.

"I'm glad that's over," Chopper sighed, as they left the room.

"It won't be for long," I said, putting Chopper down. I suddenly felt chilly, even with the bandages all over my body. "Is it just me or does it feel cold in here?"

"Yeah, it is cold," Nami agreed. "I'll close it."

"You can't!" Chopper argued, going to close the door himself, after checking to make sure Luffy and Sanji are really gone. "You still have a fever."

"I don't, really," Nami assured him. "It feels like the fever has gone away."

"Nami, just because your fever has gone away, it doesn't really mean that you're all better," I told the navigator. "If you suddenly work your body, your fever might come back."

"Just as Xion-nee said. And besides, although Doctorine's medicine works quickly, having your fever to be gone soon, the Kestia bacteria are still inside your body. You have to take your antibiotics and stay put, understand?"

'_For a kid, or so he seems, he knows quite a lot,_' I mentally said in amaze.

"Thank you," Nami spoke. "You're the one who took care of me, right?" It became silent for a second, so I assumed that Chopper is shy around humans. That assumption was corrected when he gave his reply.

"SHUT UP! I DON'T NEED GRATITUDE FROM A HUMAN!" Instantly after he said that, he showed that he was actually grateful for what Nami just said. He went to denial again and went back to showing his gratitude.

'_He's so cute when he's in denial,_' I thought. '_At least, I think he's in denial._'

"The type that can't hide his feelings, huh?" Nami guessed, facing me.

"Sure looks that way," I said. I then grabbed my black coat that was hanging on the hangers and put it on. Afterwards, I leaned against a wall and sat down, planning to train in my Dive to the Heart. "I'm going to train in my little world. So don't let anyone disturb me." Without waiting for a reply, I went to my dive.

* * *

_***DIVE TO THE HEART***_

I was on the platform, as usual, waiting for Voice.

"Voice," I called. "I want to talk to you."

It was silent for a few seconds and Voice floated down. "**Is there something wrong, Xion?**" he asked.

"Isn't it obvious? What Dr. Kureha said back there, what did she mean? That I don't have a heart? How can I not have a heart when I'm alive?!" I wasn't getting any sort of reply from the floating ball of light. It was frustrating me. "Answer me! I want to know, and I want to know now! Am I really human? Or am I just some kind of live puppet?! If anyone knows who I am, it's you! Now tell me!"

"**... I cannot tell you. Not yet at least.**"

"Not yet? What do you mean not yet?! I want to know now!"

"**You're not yet ready for the truth!**" he snapped at me. "**And don't say that you are! How would you like it if you're hiding something from someone and feel that they shouldn't know something that you already know about them?! Hm?! You wait until the time is right, no matter what they say! And that's what I'm doing! Until you find out the truth yourself, I cannot tell you what you really are.**"

I was even more frustrated with his answer, but soon calmed down when I realized what he meant. "Fine, I'll find out for myself. But you better explain everything when I do!"

"**Absolutely. Now then, now that we're here, I believe it's time for us to train you.**"

"Make sure the enemies are similar to Drum Kingdom. I want to try to fight against the cold. After all, Wapol is going to come over here and challenge me."

"**Certainly.**" When he replied, the room suddenly got cold and the ice cube Heartless from earlier appeared, along with some bigger version of them. There were also some lantern-like Heartless and some light blue cannons. Behind the groups of Heartless were a dragon and a knight of some wort.

The dragon was white and light steel blue. Its body is thin and the feet were large. The tail is long, wide, flat and sports a few short spikes on its sides, with a dark gray zigzagging stripe near its tip. On its forehead is a large horn that curves slightly upward. As for the knight, it wore an unusual armor. Its helmet has two short spikes and a long, twisted antenna. Like most knights' helmets, there's a small opening in the front, just barely exposes its black face and glowing yellow eyes. In place of each of its hands are the jagged, light blue, ice blades. On the shoulder pads were Heartless emblems.

"**Blue Rhapsodies, Ice Cannon, Avalanche, Chill Ripper,**" Voice identified. "**Get rid of the weaklings to get to the bosses.**"

"On it," I answered, summoning Warrior's Pride.


	17. Parts of Xion's Past Revealed

**A/N: Partial credit goes to EvanderAdvent.**

* * *

_Last time:_

_The dragon was white and light steel blue. Its body is thin and the feet were large. The tail is long, wide, flat and sports a few short spikes on its sides, with a dark gray zigzagging stripe near its tip. On its forehead is a large horn that curves slightly upward. As for the knight, it wore an unusual armor. Its helmet has two short spikes and a long, twisted antenna. Like most knights' helmets, there's a small opening in the front, just barely exposes its black face and glowing yellow eyes. In place of each of its hands are the jagged, light blue, ice blades. On the shoulder pads were Heartless emblems._

_"**Blue Rhapsodies, Ice Cannon, Avalanche, Chill Ripper,**" Voice identified. "**Get rid of the weaklings to get to the bosses.**"_

_"On it," I answered, summoning Warrior's Pride._

* * *

After getting rid of the Blue Rhapsodies, Ice Cannons and the ice cubes, both the small and big ones, I made my way to the big ones. It was hard to beat them since it was a two-on-one and they were both strong. And with the air and ground combo of theirs, it's hard for me to land a hit on them without getting hit. It was block, then evade, then block, then evade, and more blocking and evading. Especially since the Chill Reaper was summoning pillars of ice from the ground. And the cold temperature isn't any help at all.

'_If only I can stop them in their tracks so I can just easily burn them to ashes,_' I thought. None of my gravity magics work on Heartless like them, so that's out of question. And it's easier to fight one of them when the Chill Reaper is just standing still or charging up to use one of its attacks.

After I finally defeated Avalanche with my fire magics and Fire Dash, I went to fight against the Chill Reaper. When I went to attack it, however, it was prepared to lunge at me with its ice sabers. I managed to block it, only to get pushed back by the force and end up at the edge of the platform. It then stood still again, recharging its energy. I took the chance and began to attack it with all my fire attacks. Just when I thought I would end it with one last attack, it suddenly summoned the ice pillars and went wild on me.

I somehow managed to stay alive from its attacks with only a few cold cuts, which then became frostbite. '_I hoped Nami explained to Chopper about what I'm doing,_' I thought, not wanting to get back to reality with my body covered in frostbite again.

When the Chill Reaper was going for another attack, I quickly used my fire magic to counter it. "**Fission Firaga!**" A ball of fire was then fired from Warrior's Pride and hit the Heartless, exploded once it made contact. The smoke from the explosion subsided and there was nothing left from the reaper.

"Finally..." I sighed, falling to my knees in exhaustion.

"**If this was a timing challenge, you would fail it and not get a Dream Eater recipe,**" I heard Voice say.

"Put a sock in it," I grumbled.

"**I don't have any. In fact, I don't even have feet.**"

"You know what I mean! Anyway, not that I'm done, I should be going back to reality now."

"**Yes, you should. And help out that tanuki of yours. It's being chased by your captain and chef again while it was treating you.**"

"AHHH! Chopper!" I screamed, quickly returning to reality.

* * *

_***REALITY***_

I shot up from my spot on the floor and quickly ran out of the room looking for Chopper. As I began to ran, though, I tripped on something.

"Just what do you think you're doing, Xion?" came a familiar voice. "Those frostbite came out of nowhere. You shouldn't be up and running yet."

"But Chopper is going to get eaten if I don't go, Dr. Kureha!" I reasoned, getting back up.

"Doctorine! Save me!" Speak of the devil. I turned to the source and saw Chopper being chased by Luffy.

"Wait!" he demanded.

"**Slow!**" I shouted, summoning my Keyblade and using the said magic on Luffy. Chopper then took his chance to jump into my arms for protection.

"Xion-nee help me!" he begged, as the effect of my magic wore off of Luffy, having him slam into a door.

"Xion! As your captain, I order you to give me the monster!" Luffy said.

"As the First Mate of your pirate crew Luffy, I refuse to obey that order," I calmly replied, petting Chopper.

"I refuse!"

"Refuse what?"

"I refuse your refusal!"

"You can't do that!"

"I'm your captain so I can!" the rubberboy tried to reason.

"Just because you're my captain doesn't mean that you can refuse my refusal! And besides, what makes you think that I will just give you Chopper?" I questioned.

"He's going to be our nakama."

"Really, Chopper?" I asked the reindeer.

"I never agreed to that!" Chopper replied. Yet, Luffy kept saying that he did say so.

"How about you both tell me what exactly happened while I was training?" I suggested. They both told me what happened, and it turns out, Chopper said nothing about joining.

"So you see, he said that he'll be our nakama!" And so Luffy said.

"WHERE IN THAT STORY DID I/HE SAY ABOUT JOINING YOU/US?!" Chopper and I asked in unison.

"When I offered him a position."

"That's where?!"

"Anyway Luffy, you can't just force people to join us. If Chopper doesn't want to go, then that's that, he won't go," I said.

"But he's a monster! He's cool!"

"That doesn't mean that we can force him to join us," I told the idiot captain, carrying Chopper out of the room.

"Oi! Wait! Where are you going with him?!"

"None of your business." That was what I said, but Luffy just followed me out.

"Well, then, you have him join us!" Luffy told me.

"Don't want to. Besides, Chopper already said that he doesn't want to come with us. Right?" I asked the reindeer in question.

"That's right. Even though I want to be with Xion again, I refuse to become a pirate!" he told Luffy.

"But being a pirate is-"

"Luffy," I spoke, giving him one of those looks that a mother would give to their child.

"But-"

"Hmm!"

"Yes. I understand," he said, suddenly sulking against a wall. I sweatdropped a little at the sight. "Xion, you meanie."

"Well, if you would just grow up, maybe I would reconsider the idea," I said.

"Really?! You're reconsidering the idea?!" That was too quick of a recovery!

"That was too quick of a recovery!" Chopper voiced out my thoughts.

"And I said _MAYBE _if you _GROW UP_!" I added.

"To what age?" Is he really that stupid?! Whoever his parents are, they have my condolences for having this idiot as their son! Ignoring the boy, I continued to walk away. "Oi! You didn't answer my question! And where are you going?"

"Just shut up, you rubber fool!"

* * *

_***AT THE SAME TIME, IN NAMI'S ROOM**GENERAL'S P.O.V***_

While Xion is carrying Chopper to who-knows-where, Dr. Kureha told Nami and Sanji Chopper's past, before they met Xion. There was only one man who reached out to the reindeer before her. His name was Dr. Hiluluk, also known as the quack doctor. He and Chopper were like a father and a son. When it was time to say good-bye, Chopper became upset and Hiluluk forced himself to have Chopper stay away from him. Later that day, the reindeer found out about his condition and went off to find a mushroom that can heal him. Little did the reindeer know, it was actually deadly poison. Despite this, the quack doctor accepted the mushroom.

The next day, Chopper did his best to cook the mushroom and make it into a soup. Hiluluk drank it and was disgusted at the taste, much to the male reindeer's shock and disappointment. He then laughed and cheered Chopper up. At that moment, the experiment he was working on for the past thirty years was complete, or so he said. He then left to Dr. Kureha's place, after telling Chopper to stay in his hideout, and requested her to spread his research all over the island in his place as well as taking care of Chopper and teaching him how to be a doctor. This confuses and irritates her to no end and kicks him out.

Later that day, Dr. Kureha thought over her friend's request. Replaying his words, her eyes widened in realization what he would be doing. She quickly went to Hiluluk's place, only to see that Chopper was the only one at home. Chopper, scared of the witch doctor, told her that Hiluluk was 'cured' and in a village. She didn't believe it, until Chopper presented to her half of the mushroom that he gave to his father-figure. Kureha became extremely upset and told Chopper the truth about the mushroom. The young reindeer at first didn't believe her, until she told him what it really means to be a doctor and the reason why they exists. Chopper became so sad, he cried. Afterwards, he went off to find Hiluluk to see him before he dies.

Chopper found him. However, the second he arrived, the quack doctor blew himself up. The reindeer was angered that Wapol would just laugh at his father-figure's death and was about to kill him. And he would've commited suicide, if it wasn't for Dalton. After knocking some sense into the reindeer's head with words, Chopper left, taking Hiluluk's hat with him.

Once he got back to his home, he begged Kureha to teach him how to be a doctor. Sighing in defeat, she took him in and accepted her friend's last wish.

"So for six years, Tony-kun was with you," Nami spoke, feeling sorry for the blue-nose reindeer.

"I've beaten everything I know into him," Dr. Kureha said.

"And what's the story with Xion-san?" Sanji questioned. "Of what I see, he really likes her."

"Ah, yes. And then there was Xion."

* * *

_***FLASHBACK (ONE YEAR AGO)***_

'_**It was back when I was treating a patient. A small but strong group of pirates came and wanted me to join them. Of course I refused, but the leader summoned some strange creatures that are similiar to the ones that were in Wapol's control that he left behind here on this island. Chopper stood in his way to protect me. The captain of the crew was about to attack him, but then, Xion came and fought in Chopper's place.**_'

"Who the hell are you?" the captain, Blackbeard, asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Xion asked back. "I don't know who you are, but since you're the the reason why there are a lot of Heartless here, I'll have to beat you to complete my mission."

"Mission?" Blackbeard and Kureha repeated. Xion pushed him back with her Keyblade.

"I don't know who you're working for, but if you do want to fight me, you have to go through my minions and crewmates first." Just when he said that, Heartless appeared, surrounding Xion, as well as Blackbeard's crewmates.

'_**It was a long and tough battle. In fact, it took hours. Yet, Xion managed to defeat the pirates and the Heartless, which then leaves only the captain. Xion seemed exhausted. Who wouldn't, when you're up against two dozen opponents? Before she could fight against the captain, he offered her a position in his crew. And did you know what Xion told him?**_'

"Screw the position! I'm not going to join your crowd since it has nothing to do with my future! Besides, who would want to be a pirate?!" Xion replied.

"Then I guess you'll just have to die!" Blackbeard made up his mind.

'_**That battle took longer than the previous one. It was a miracle how Xion could still fight. Just when it looks like the pirate was going to beat her, she managed to defeat him. She was about to give the finish blow to him, but then...**_'

"Leave," she told Blackbeard, confusing him. "I'm giving you a choice. You can either leave or die here. If you choose to leave, promise me this: No matter how much time pass, you will never come back here. Understand?" The defeated pirate just stared at the Nobody in shock. "Also, give back all the food and money that you stole from this place, now! Or I will have to kill you!"

'_**When she said that, those pirates reluctantly chose to leave this island, leaving all the food and money that they took from the villages. As soon as they left, Xion collapsed. All the villagers that were watching the whole battle became worried about her. Believe it or not, even I was worried about our saviour. So, in exchange for helping us, I had Chopper carry her all the way to this castle so we can treat her wounds. And boy, was I surprised to know one thing about this girl.**_'

'_**And what's that?**_' Sanji asked.

'_**It's that she doesn't have a heart, right?**_' Nami guessed.

'_**That's right,**_' Dr. Kureha answered.

'_**What?! But that's impossible!**_' Sanji protested.

'_**That's what the girl and I thought. Chopper is the only one who doesn't know about this. And I bet your captain doesn't know about it either. After the treatment, I did some research, trying to see if it was possible for humans to live without something as vital as a heart. In the end, it was impossible, unless if she ate a devil's fruit that changes her heart into a weapon. However, if that was the case, her heart would've went into her body, since it disappeared when she collapsed. So I decided to wait for her to wake up to find out about**** this.**_

_**When she woke up, she instantly wanted me to just let her go. Of course, as a doctor, I forbid** **that.**_'

"You have to let me go," Xion said to Dr. Kureha. "I'll be just fine."

"Not while you're in my castle," Dr. Kureha argued. "Look here girly, I only let my patients go if they are completely healed or if they die. And as a doctor-"

"But I'm not a human," Xion interrupted.

"That's what I would also like to talk to you about. What happened to your heart? How is it that you're alive without one?" Xion flinched at her question.

"I'm a puppet. A live puppet."

"That's ridiculous. How can a puppet be alive?"

"Well I'm one and I'm alive. Now I have to leave or my boss will get mad at me for not returning. And I don't want to give him any more reason to hate me."

"... All right. I'll let you go," Kureha said. Xion was relieved that she would be let go, until the witch doctor added a condition. "After I study your condition."

"But I-"

"No 'buts' or I will give you more injuries. None of your wounds have healed yet, and I'm the only doctor on this island, aside from my apprentice that is. And just because I'm a doctor, it doesn't mean that I can't fight. I'm actually really strong, so choose your choice wisely."

_**After that, she decided to stay until she's fully healed. During her stay here, I studied on her conditions, trying to figure out the secret of her not having a heart. When she saw Chopper, she found him cute and was very fond of him. Chopper was starting to like her himself. As time passed, those two created a bond, similiar to siblings'. Now that I think about it, I was starting to warm up to her myself. She told him that she comes from another island, one really far from this one, and the people on that island are experienced fighters and they all can create a portal out of thin air. I knew that she wasn't telling him everything. But I let that fact go.**_

_**When it was time for her to go, Chopper became really upset. But Xion promised him that she'll visit him everyday and that she'll bring some candy. As promised, she came here everyday, after she was done with those mission of hers. But then, on her last visit here...**_'

"Chopper, Doctorine," Xion called. "I... have some bad news. Or rather, horrible news."

"What's wrong, Xion-nee?" Chopper asked.

"This visit... is the last time we will see each other." Chopper and I couldn't believe our ears when she said that.

"That's... a lie, right?"

"I'm sorry, Chopper. But, I'm not." A portal then appeared behind her. "Sometime after I leave, you will forget me. All the good and bad times we had together will eventually disappear from your memories. I'm not suppose to exist anyway, so if you still remember me, and have very little memories left about me, don't blame yourself for being unable to keep them. This is good-bye. I will miss you." Xion then stepped into the portal.

"Wait, Xion(-nee)!" Doctorine and Chopper demanded, running after her. Unfortunately for them, the portal disappeared on them.

* * *

**_*END OF FLASHBACK*_**

"Out of the two of us, Chopper was really sad to hear that from Xion's lips. I didn't want to see my apprentice this hurt and told him that she might be lying. That lifted his spirits and as days passed, none of our memories about Xion disappeared, which is proof enough that she was lying and might be coming back," Dr. Kureha said. "And you know, I was planning to ask her what she meant at that time when she said that we won't remember her, but since she has an amnesia, it's hopeless to ask."

Nami and Sanji looked down, curious about Xion's last words to Chopper and Dr. Kureha.

"Things that you guys have with Xion..." Nami spoke.

"... Will disappear from your memories?" Sanji finished.

"That's what she said. But now, I will never know what she meant by that."

"Doctorine!" came Chopper's voice, as the reindeer barged into the room in his reindeer form. "Doctorine! Come quick! Wapol came back!"


End file.
